A Legend's Journey
by ramasioti100
Summary: Following Ash's adventures in the region of Johto, the newest League Champion heads out into the other regions, ready to prove his strength against the very best trainers that the world has to offer. With the support of his ever-growing team, friends and plenty of lovers, his path to the top will be unchallenged.
1. A New Journey

**A Legend's Journey**

 **And so the new Pokemon story has come! This is the sequel of "Unexpected Twist" so you better read it before this one. Otherwise, you will not understand a lot of things that are happening. Especially the group of Pokemon Ash is currently carrying with him, which is literally ALL of his Pokemon (with the exception of 30 Tauros, only the leader). Although he won't carry them through the entirety of Hoenn because I do need to make the new Pokemon Ash captures, both canon and my own ideas have a chance to get stronger without OPing through Gyms.**

 **By the way, we are going from Hoenn to Kalos, including Battle Frontier of Kanto but not the Sinnoh one. Iwill leave that last one hanging because I have a Sinnoh redo story that includes that unique Battle Frontier. And unlike "Start of a Legend" I am very committed to finish this story maybe after surpassing the 100 chapters.**

 **Surprised? You should be!**

 **Things you should expect in future chapters: OP Ash with Aura power, OP Pokemon including Legendary. Lemon scenes with a few ladies from the Anime, which includes a few Gym leaders, Frontier Brains, Elites and Champions and their hot associates. OC Pokemon abilities that I invented.** **I will also include some Alola Pokemon, including the new versions of Kanto (Vulpix, and Marowak). Ash will capture them or fight them during a League battle or just trainer-to-trainer battle. I will also include OC Alola forms for other Pokemon (Just so you know what to expect and not rant me in the Guess reviews about WTH I am doing.) And if all these wasn't enough, I am adding the other Pokeballs, like Ultra, Super and even the Master Ball.**

 **Also, I'll be dropping a few easter eggs during the 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th movies. Those are the only ones I will include in my story. Although this can change depending if a movie 21 or more appear. Easter eggs about what, you will ask? That's for you to pay close attention and find out.**

 **Chapter's length will vary from time to time. This one is long simply because I am including a lot of details from the original story. The following ones may be shorter and straight to the point or longer and very detailed. You guys leave a review about what you consider best and also review what you think of my this newest story.**

 **Is it just as good as "Unexpected Twist"? Worse or better?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon Games, Anime or Manga. If I did, Ash would have won everything and evolved his Pokemon.**

 **Now let's read this incredibly long story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The New Journey**

A massive ferry finally set port in Littleroot Town. People started walking down minding their own businesses without much of a haze. The populous bay was very well known as the starting point of many powerful Pokemon trainers from outside and inside the borders of Hoenn, arriving in grandiose style to claim the region by storm. Yet our hero with the same goal had taken a more humble approach as his ego would never be outweighed by his kindness and dedication to learn and improve himself.

A teenager stood amongst the departing crowd easily recognizable if one were to be personally looking for him. His tall frame of five feet eight inches stood at the edge of the port, a broad smile plastered across his lips. His blue blazer was open revealing a black t-shirt which was very tight around a worked-out frame. It was followed by matching blue trousers with black trainers. A rather large backpack comfortably rested upon his back despite looking cumbersome to many.

Ash Ketchum, most recent League winner in Johto was finally in the region of Hoenn. There he would challenge the eight gyms Circuit and earn their respective badges just like he had already done in two regions before. With them, Ash would be able to compete in the Hoenn League in a few months and maybe claim another League title for himself. This would allow him to stand against the Elite Four, the very top trainers until reaching the Champion, the apex of the League pyramid. But this League as a whole would only be a small step into his bigger and more long-term plan; to become a Pokemon Master, the very best of the world.

The Aura trainer inhaled the salty scent of the sea and basked in the warm sunlight of midday, his Electric-type starter standing next to him yawning after being awoken from his nap. A tall orange mouse with dark brown pocks for cheeks was reaching as tall as Ash's middle thigh. A three-foot long tail ending in a lightning-shaped tip comfortably rested on the ground. This Pokemon looked quite chubby but its looks were quite deceiving. Because this Pokemon called Raichu packed a lot of raw power with a lot of speed thanks to his previous training as a Pikachu.

"Okay, Raichu, we have to meet Professor Birch in his lab," The fifteen-year-old teenager said towards his starter, his gaze set firmly into the horizon. Just like in the other regions, Ash had to let the regional Professor inscribe him into the official League circuit to be allowed to battle in the official gyms of Hoenn. Also this had the benefit of showing Ash's gym victories without needing his badges. This was a security measure in case the badges were stolen or lost. But Ash was definitely not going to part ways with the eight badges tradition. His mother still wanted to place them atop of the chimney. "And then we begin training again." The Mouse's ears seemed to perk up by that notice.

" _About time,_ " Raichu said now, stretching his arms in circle motions. " _Two days crammed inside that ship was really not good for my muscles._ " Ash chuckled. After evolving, his starter had grown a bit worried about his appearance despite looking rather muscular in Raichu terms. Usually human females were the one most concerned about that but Ash could guess Raichu had his physical standards to keep. Otherwise, how was he going to get a mate?

The black-haired teenager felt a wave of nostalgia passing through him. Despite being only two days since saying goodbye, Ash already felt the grief of departing from his girlfriend. The beautiful red-haired bodacious Elite Four of his home region and Ice mistress Lorelei Canna. It had all started like a very weird fiction story, with Ash ready to train his team and conquer a League. Lorelei seeing potential in Ash that he doubted he possessed, took him under her wing and ran him and his Pokemon to the ground, rebuilding him as the future Pokemon Master he now knew he could become. And the closeness between the two eventually got so deep that they took it to the next step. The now couple had to 'take a break' during the following months as Ash traversed the region of Johto. This only created a built up for their eventual reunion, which the teenager found very soon enough before even starting the League matches.

A third party, however, was invited into the equation by that time. The beautiful undefeated Sinnoh Champion Cynthia Shirona, invited by her long-time friend and lover Lorelei, seemed to have found a proper suitor in her friend's boyfriend. A person looking from the outside would only see a woman trying to steal her friend's man right in front of her very eyes. This wasn't the case at all. The Ice Elite and Sinnoh Champion had been friends for way too long to allow social constructs of civilians who didn't know the life of trainers, shake their relationship. Instead of fighting for Ash, they decided to playfully fight with him under the bed sheets. Ash enjoyed the time spent with his two ladies, not only by their bodies but also their similar personalities. They were role models to other women who may think of themselves as not capable of entering into training. They were determined to not be looked down by arrogant trainers, particularly men. Their Pokemon, considered beasts of strength that average only a handful of trainers could reach were all constantly training despite been called the ultimate echelon of power.

And as much as one would say their multiple relationship with a teenager was illegal or something like that, then they would be wrong. As soon as Ash became a registered trainer, he reached the status of an adult. As such he could drive, drink alcohol and get laid as much as he wanted without giving a fuck who was pissed off by that. Hell, trainers could get married just after obtaining their starters if they wanted to! A couple in Johto did it and they were fourteen.

Ash chuckled, getting his mind focused in the task at hand. His reunion with his beautiful vixens was due to come soon enough. For now, his head had to be centred in one thing at the time. Currently, to get to Professor Birch's house.

" _Ash, do you need me to take you to this Professor Birch's house?_ " Ash's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice echoing in his minds. Usually any regular person would freak out by a bodiless voice talking to you. However, Ash was not any usual trainer. As a year ago, he had been blessed by the fact four Legendary Pokemon, beings of ungodly power considered to be the manifestations of forces of nature itself, had decided to come along in his journey to become a Pokemon Master. His strongest Legend and also regarded as Guardian of the Sea Lugia had long ago established a mind link with his trainer so to always keep in contact. While the Legendary Pokemon knew that the Chosen One was more that capable of taking care of himself thanks to his unique gift, Lugia was not going to be a disgrace to his family by neglecting his trainer's needs.

Ash smiled. Lugia was not only his strongest but also the most selfless of his Pokemon. However, just like during their time in Johto, the raven-haired teenager was not going to put his Pokemon under the spotlight. Unlike his other Legendary Pokemon the Titans of Ice Articuno, lightning Zapdos and Fire Moltres, the Guardian of the Sea had power that far surpassed what even Legendary Pokemon called average. And during the following weeks in the new region, the trainer was pretty sure that he would grow exponentially stronger, if such a thing was still within the realm of possibilities.

" _Thanks, Lugia. But you know that I don't want to draw too much attention right after setting foot in Hoenn,_ " The Aura trainer replied in his mind, " _But don't worry. I am sure this region might give you a few challenges._ " The Diving Pokemon nodded knowing that his trainer was right. Ash had a very accurate way to predict the future despite not being a Psychic. The Legendary Pokemon only hoped that he could meet Ash's standards in battle despite only taking part in mock ones with the rest of the team.

* * *

As trainer and Electric Pokemon walked out the registering booth after Ash had signed his arrival, the aura trainer checked himself over in the mirror reflex of a window. Maybe he should have changed his outfit before coming to Hoenn. The old outfit was rather unsuited for a League Champion. It just didn't show the same badassery his battles displayed and will display in the not so far future.

And if you had a keen eye, one would easily notice that the sleeves of the blue jacket and the edge of the trousers at the ankle level were slightly displaying the skin beneath. The League Champion was definitely not going to walk into the League Stadium with a get up two sizes too small. Luckily, the civilians and trainers walking around didn't notice anything. It seemed to be very fortunate coincidence for him that not many people had recognized him from his rather legendary victory, no pun intended. Otherwise, been mobbed by fans and trainers wanting to challenge him would definitely not be the best way to start his new adventure.

"Oh well, I'll pick something later." Ash casually stated, grabbing one of his Pokeballs from his waist. Though he was carrying enough Pokeballs to be confusing for any seasoned trainer and even regional Champion, the trainer knew exactly which member of his massive team he was calling out.

One of the advantages of having the unique gift of Aura. This power allowed Ash to manifest his very life force to the outside as well as connect the future Pokemon Master with the flow of energy of the surrounding area. After being self taught through his trek in Johto, Ash had grasped a lot of the more combat uses for his Aura, focusing it on his hands to punch stronger, to throw swirling orbs as deadly as cannonballs or manifesting dome-shaped shields. However, his most passive abilities had also developed nicely like Aura sight, which allowed the raven-haired man to see through objects and find the energy of people or Pokemon that attempted to hide from him. The most subconscious level of his Aura was a very literal lie detector. This also included being capable of sensing people's and Pokemon's emotions by just been close to them. Usually the stronger the emotion, the less close Ash had to be to sense it. And one of Ash's newest talents was to connect his Aura with his whole team of twenty Pokemon recognizing each and every one of them without missing a beat even with them resting inside their respective Pokeballs.

"Pidgeot, come out!" The seasoned trainer sent out his first Flying type from his home region. The giant brown-feathered bird of Kanto stood mightily with a great wingspan of six almost seven feet from one point of the wing to the other, a red-feathered crest going from its head to its back a short beak, three-taloned scaled short legs and fan-like feathers as tail. With a cry of power, the avian Pokemon made its presence well known if being called out hadn't been enough. The majestic bird was drawing a lot of attention from people around them, either shocked looks from trainers or hearts for eyes regarding a few ladies. Ash smirked. His Pidgeot was unique regarding not only its size, almost twice the average for its kin but also its glowing glossy feathers. Only the well-cared Pokemon had that look of both elegance and power that Pidgeot currently irradiated.

The Aura trainer knew that such a Pokemon could be much desired for contests. Apparently in the region of Hoenn it was where it had started the newest trending sensation that had slowly but constantly spread over the other regions of Sinnoh and Unova, and there had even been a few mock contests to start in Kanto and Kalos. So far Ash knew that the Pokemon League had accepted the new battle variations that separated regular trainer battles from the new flashing shows to appeal a group of judges. Instead of gym badges, the trainers, known as Coordinators earnt ribbons after winning the contest in front of cheering crowds by either knocking out the rival's Pokemon with both strength and elegance or by draining a score bar, that was depleted whenever your Pokemon's move was either blocked and countered with grace or just out right dodged.

However, Contests had other rules mostly which required combining moves to create a dazzling performance that had to be both appealing and packing a wallop known as Performance Stage so to qualify for the following battle Stage. Sadly, after watching some videos of contests in PokeTube, Ash had to admit that the more flashy coordinators were all compensating for their Pokemon's lack of proper training when it came to strength. Many were obviously frustrated trainers, who never got the hand around properly shaping their teams to challenge the world.

The Aura trainer climbed on top of his Flying Pokemon alongside his Electric starter. The wind flew in gusts as soon as Pidgeot took off as fast as a bullet in such swiftness that one could see that Pidgeot was more Flying-type than Normal-type. If anything, she was more Flying-type than other Flying Pokemon.

* * *

As time passed with the group flying over Littleroot, Ash was still thinking about possibly entering contests. Some of his Pokemon had the appealing looks and all exceeded in power. But he knew he would meet a lot of resistance. Coordinators were definitely not going to let him walk into their turf and take control. Ash smirked by that thought. He would not go all the way into the Hoenn festival, the equivalent of an official League for Coordinators. He had to focus on training his team for his Gym Battles and future League. Yet claiming victory in a few contests just to show any arrogant douche Ash was bound to encounter that he excelled despite being a rookie was going to be the best 'fuck you' for all.

However, his biggest hindrance may turn out to be his own Pokemon. While Ash trusted his Pokemon with his life and vice versa, not many members of his party would be inclined to parade themselves into something they didn't consider worth it. Although, with many of his Pokemon having his same mentality of constantly improving themselves, the League Champion might get his strongest Pokemon to at least take part in the battle rounds, even if they would have to hold back their real might just so that a combination move wouldn't blow up in their faces.

Ash musing was suddenly cut short when Pidgeot's shrill cry indicated they had arrived. A beautiful two-store tall square house firmly stood near the cliff overlooking the ocean connecting Hoenn with Johto. An SUV was parked near the front door of the house. The sound of water waves clashing on the rocky walls beneath was a very calming one while Ash and Raichu dismounted Pidgeot. Trainer and Electric Pokemon walked inside the building with the avian Pokemon remaining outside ready for takeoff.

"You must be professor Birch." The Aura teenager stated towards the auburn-haired man in a lab coat. The man was rather young, probably mid thirties. Light maroon hair with no greying in the sideburns. A square jaw with matching trimmed beard, the man was broad of shoulders although his combination in lab coat with khaki shorts sure left people confused.

"That's right young lad," The regional professor answered, looking up from his microscope at the newcomer. After two new trainers starting their journey with their new starters just an hour ago, he hadn't paid much attention to the door opening when this new trainer stepped through. His eyes widen in shock. Ash almost laughed. It was obvious Birch had recognized him. The man of science coughed trying to not look so dowdy by the arrival of a famous trainer. "Wow, Ash Ketchum. It's an honour to meet a League Champion in person." The professor still remembered when he had given his Pokemon starter to Steven Stone. Such a fascinating specimen of a Beldum that had gotten attached to the once new trainer because of how nicely he had treated it. That young lad was currently the Champion of Hoenn so it truly showed how far one could go to reach their dreams as long as you had the support of your Pokemon.

"Nice to meet you Professor," The Aura trainer nodded smiling and shaking hands with the man of science. "A friend of mine, Samuel Oak told me that I had to talk to you to get registered for the Hoenn League." The professor nodded, while also making a mental profile about Ash. The young man in front looked and acted a lot like Steve did back in the days. Maybe he was meeting the future champion of a region. But only time would answer that tricky question.

"Yes, I just need your Poke…" Professor Birch was saying when he found Ash's hand stretched forward carrying the red- and-black electronic device that analyzed Pokemon. The winning grin plastered across the teen's face indicated this wasn't his first rodeo.

After connecting the Pokedex with Birch's computer and typing into the keyboard for a few minutes, Birch handed back the analyzing device.

"All set Ash," Birch said very enthusiastic taking a rectangular object from beneath his desk, "This is your badge case…but I guess you already knew that." The professor commented with mirth, to which Ash could only shrug his shoulders and nod.

"Thank you for your time, Professor Birch." The Aura trainer thanked the science man making a small bow of his head.

"No problem, young man," The man of science replied with a beaming smile, "Make sure to reach far in the Hoenn League. I know I should encourage trainers from Hoenn, but considering your talent, I'm sure who the winning Rapidash in this race is."

* * *

Ash walked back outside of the lab carrying a foldable map of the region. The trainer scratched his head. While he knew how to read a map, unlike Johto, Hoenn had plenty of island archipelagos as part of their territory. So carrying an object made out of flimsy paper even in his backpack was definitely not going to help him in the long run. That was one thing Ash was certain about replacing in the nearby future. As soon as he found a Pokestore, he would buy the newest PokeNav Plus, a handheld device which had all apps a trainer needed, an electronic GPS map been one of them. The once famous Pokegears were going out of style, surpassed by more efficient gadgets although Ash new that the newest ones were also the most expensive. Not that he lacked money after winning a League and his many battles over Kanto and Johto.

For the time being, however, Ash had to head into the north through Route 101 towards Petalburg City. Apparently there was a gym there only a one-day walk away. However, the seasoned trainer knew that the gym, which specialized in Normal-types, had to be challenged after collecting four badges. Usually if that requirement was needed then it had to be a very powerful leader to face off against. Something that made Ash excited. So after reaching Petalburg, the League Champion would instead head west towards Route 104 and challenge the Gym Leader in Rustboro City.

The trainer with a Pokecap was about to climb back on Pidgeot's back when a shrill cry rattled from inside the nearby forest.

"Help!" A girl's distress voice echoed through the forest. Ash hastily called back his Avian Pokemon. Raichu, already ahead of his trainer, had sped off in a blur of white light into the forest using his blinding velocity obtained by his training as a Pikachu and later amplified by his final evolution. Not even three seconds after the Aura trainer had recalled his Flying Pokemon, the Lightning Mouse was already in front of him, pointing somewhere in the woods.

" _Hey Ash, over here!_ " Raichu yelled at his trainer running through the bushed with his sensitive ears catching the location from where they scream originated. Ash followed his starter until reaching a clearing. A young girl, barely fourteen was laying on the grass trembling in utter fear. She had a red bandanna over her shoulder-length light brown hair. She also had a red top that stretched over her nice set of breasts and also a pair of tight red biker shorts mixing with red trainers.

* * *

May Mapple, brand new trainer from Hoenn hadn't thought much when she had been allowed to travel from her home in Petalburg city to Littleroot Town to obtain her starter Pokemon from Professor Birch. Her baby brother had been one of the main reasons to leave as soon as her birthday was over, as his constant pestering about getting her starter so he could check it out had finally broken the Camerupt's back. Although she had no idea which one to pick out of the three, the brunette was sure that she would not need much out of whichever she picked. Unlike others who may have been excited down to their core by such a day, May wasn't among that group. So far, her goals in life where to travel around her home and later find which career held the strongest fire to attract her.

Selecting her starter hadn't been much of hassle despite traveling almost an entire day in her bicycle. Out of the three, the Grass starter Treecko looked to be the creepiest. And for some reason, it reminded her of his brother. No wonder he kept nagging about one day having one. And the Water-type Mudkip… well it was cute but way too playful and joker for her taste. If a **Water Gun** to her face was funny for anyone. So that left the last one, the Fire-type Chicken Pokemon known as Torchic. And considering how sweet and cute he looked, then it wasn't even a competition.

After Professor had handed May her new Pokedex and six Pokeballs, one for her starter and five empty ones the brunette hit the road again, hoping to return to her home close to night time. As a new trainer without any kind of thrill to engage in battle with wild Pokemon just yet, May had hoped that Pokemon would hopefully stay out of her path and let her be.

Of course that wasn't meant to be. As soon as the fourteen-year-old lady turned her head to look at a couple of Beautiflys flying over the trees when something had shot into her. A hovering wispy skull was suddenly in front of her, scaring her out of her skull, making her cry out in terror. The rascal Duskull disappeared in a second but May had already lost control of her pedal vehicle and eventually found herself flying into the hard ground, her bike hitting a tree trunk. Right when the new trainer was getting up hoping to catch her breath and calm her wracking brain, growls emitted from the close-by bushes started getting closer to her. She hastily turned around one hundred and eighty and found herself laying on her back, with a pack of black-furred dog-like Pokemon getting closer to her. It was obvious all the noise she had made during her accident had annoyed the pack of Dark-type Pokemon.

Before her brain could react and do anything, one of the dogs unleashed a sphere of condensated purple energy from its maw, hurling in towards her bike. The brunette watched helplessly how her means to escape was reduced to a smoking chunk of garbage.

She was whimpering in the grass, surrounded by a pack of growling and menacing black dogs. She just couldn't catch a break, could she?

* * *

Ash scratched his head a bit confused. Raichu was standing by his side trying really not to cry out in laughter. Black dogs they were indeed but puppy-sized ones with barely their canines showing. These were Poochyenas, A Dark type native of Hoenn. Their threatening growls were very cute.

" _Do I even bother?_ " The Lightning Mouse asked his trainer, rubbing the tears of laughter out of his eyes. Boy, this region was already going to be a blast!

"Raichu, **Iron Tail**!" The League Champion ordered, knowing this was not going to be even a warm-up battle. His evolved starter front-flipped with his long limb covered in silver colors. He slammed the attack right in the middle of the unsuspecting pack, a powerful shock wave sending the Poochyenas careening away a few meters. Even the young girl had been pushed a few inches back by the close proximity to the mighty blow capable of knocking out many Pokemon in one hit.

The baby Dark Pokemon pack stood up covered in scratches and hastily run away in fear. Raichu grinned looking very smug. He had not even used a tenth of his full strength and he still drove Pokemon away in fear. Even if they were baby Pokemon, any enemy of his would get to cower after witnessing his staggering power.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ash asked towards the panting lady. The next thing the Aura trainer knew, he was been smothered by a tight bone-crushing hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The teenage girl said thanking the life out of him. And also smoldering his Aura out of him. Ash could feel her bosom rubbing his chest but he didn't mind. Being perverted by two Elite trainers brought that to you so this lady wasn't very much affecting him.

"You are welcomed," The Aura trainer said calming her. He looked around the area his Aura sight not detecting other wild Pokemon close by that could pose a threat. Ash placed his hands on her shoulders making her take a step back and look him in the eye. Something to which she had to raise her gaze a few inches up due to their height difference. "Now why were Poochyenas attacking you?"

"I…kind of wanted to catch one." The brunette stated her cheeks blushing up a storm. She also intentionally forgo the fact a Duskull had scared the shit out of her just minute ago and that it had led to the whole incident. One embarrassing thing was plenty enough. Being found out was even worse.

Ash sighed knowing she was lying. But he couldn't get mad at her if she was attacked by accident or because she had scared the pack of Poochyenas. Normally many new trainers simply attacked wild Pokemon without knowing if those lived in packs or not. His experience spoke volumes.

"Let me guess, you thought about capturing Poochyena by yourself." Ash stated now making the girls' blush to intensify. He could perfectly see that the girl hadn't even called out her starter to fight and save her. That had to be the first lesson all starting trainers had to come to terms with. A human alone couldn't stand against a wild Pokemon and come out victorious, especially against those that were known as human eaters or just attacked humans without needing encouragement. He still remembered his own mistake when attempting to capture a Spearow without even knowing beforehand that their species was very hairy trigger when it came to battle them in the wilderness. Raichu snickered obviously also remembering that peculiar memory.

"Look, from now on you have to be a bit more careful when fighting against wild Pokemon," Ash suggested wisely. May nodded a bit crestfallen but Ash could sense her Aura was honest in her answer. Failures were always important in your journey to learn from them. The Aura trainer looked at his starter. "Let's go, Raichu." Trainer and Pokemon from Kanto had barely moved a couple of feet when May's voice made them stop in their tracks.

"Um, do you mind if I go with you?" The brown-haired new trainer asked, looking to be fidgeting in nervousness pushing her indexes together. Her cheeks were now a very vibrant vermillion color. "MY bike, kind of...died in the battle when the Poochyenas used **Shadow Ball** on me." Trainer and starter looked at the scorched bike with a cloud of smoke slowly ascending from it. Extra crispy cook sure it was.

" _Well, this time it wasn't me._ " Raichu said to his trainer, the two smiling by the old memories. Misty still had nagged them about paying it back after their battle once Ash had returned with his League trophy. Boy, that Water lady could hold a grudge!

"Sure, tag along." Ash stated towards the girl, who almost jumped in delight, "By the way, I didn't get your name." To be fair, the Aura trainer hadn't expected to have company in Hoenn aside from his Pokemon. But it could be nice to have short-time protégé to teach the ins and outs of the life of a trainer. Just like in Kanto, trainers started when they reached the age of fourteen. And despite what that sounded, as soon as you become a registered Pokemon trainer, you were declared a legal adult. Something Ash definitely needed to make May aware off as someone could take advantage of her naiveté.

"May Mapple," The busty brunette introduced herself smiling and making a small bow of her head, "Nice to meet you." Despite her bad luck in her first day as a trainer, May knew she now only had one way to go: forward. Hopefully once she had returned to her home in Petalburg City she could finally decide what she wanted to do in her life.

The Aura trainer smiled. The girl was affable, which was definitely good points for her.

"Ash Ketchum," The fifteen year-old trainer from Kanto introduced himself. He then turned his sight towards his bulky starter. "And this is my starter Raichu." Before the Electric Pokemon could do or even react, the brunette had moved towards him trapping him in between her arms.

"Thanks for saving me, Raichu!" She Teddiursa-hugged the shit out of the fully-evolved starter, whose face went red by the pressure applied in his insides.

" _Boss, why do you get all the clingy ones?_ " The Lightning Pokemon said with a pant getting his blood properly pumping again after the Teddiursa hug. Ash sweat dropped. Good thing May couldn't understand Pokelanguage. Otherwise that hug would very quickly turn into a choke.

* * *

Away from Ash's location, a not so kind figure sat upon his Kanghaskan-leather seat resting behind his luxurious mahogany desk. The shrouded office with close curtains made the whole picture a very creepy one. A quadruped feline cat rested next to him letting itself be stroke in the soft fur by his master's hand. The man dressed in maroon suit sat in deep thoughts about the future. His own future and how it would one day be the future of the whole world.

He was Giovanni, and while his façade to the world and mundane people displayed a kind philanthropist and businessman his true colors were black and red. The colors of his criminal organization called Team Rocket, which he had led for almost two decades. Capturing wild Pokemon and even those owned by trainers had been the stepping stone for a multiregional illegal company that could accelerate the investigations of many projects that society would consider 'inhuman'.

Giovanni smirked. Pokemon were tools to be used by humans. Their incommensurable power was to be handled by beings with brains and conscious thoughts, not by mindless instincts and survival in the wilderness.

Of course, no shady organization reached so far without bumps in the road. And those bumps were a hazard attacking from both outside and inside Team Rocket. From the outside, Giovanni had to not only deal with the Pokemon league and their accursed G-Men, who were backed up by the Pokemon Rangers. And from the inside, he had the incompetence of some of his members. They had failed so many missions that Giovanni would never be able to forget about their names even if a Psychic Pokemon bleached his mind dry. Jessie, James and their talking Meowth. The three lowest members of his organization, who not only ruined the simplest of orders but got themselves officially labeled as wanted by the League. The businessman pondered why he even hired them in the first place. Probably because had been low in cannon folder back in those days. Luckily, after getting them out of prison after been put there almost a year may have made them rethink how the three stooges would serve him. They excuse was that they had a Pikachu to capture.

Giovanni wanted to face palm. Why would he ever need a pesky Pikachu? No matter how strong it was Giovanni already had plenty of Electric Pokemon for experiments. One little rat would only be waste of resources, both to capture as his lackeys proved by their failure and also a waste of his science's minds.

His telephone rang breaking the deep silence of the room and Giovanni's mussing. The leader of Team Rocket clicked the speaker button, knowing no one would try to overhear his personal calls. First, because all the communication devices in his buildings were encrypted to not be so easily picked up by the G-Men. And second, because any of his own grunts, whomsoever dared to spy on him would soon found his, hers or its head impaled by his Rhydon's horn. A very efficient method to make sure everyone under his control would remain that way.

"Sir, we have a signal coming from the Hoenn region." One of Giovanni's many henchmen reported through a secure comlink.

"Indeed, uh?" Giovanni murmured to himself, his hands together and under his chin resting his head in deep thought. His Persian next to him seemed to be smirking, representing the unmentioned thoughts of victory of its owner. "Send a few reckon drones, No human or Pokemon interference until I say so." The boss of Team Rocket smirked wide, with only one thought crossing his mind.

Many months ago Giovanni had lost the most powerful asset that he had created thanks to the newest technology in cloning and fossil restoration. However, the capture of many wild Pokemon and proving its strength in secluded Gym battles were all for show. Having such a massive amount of psychic power at his beck and call was where the true power laid. Power that had managed to escape from Giovanni's grasp and destroy all the Intel regarding the cloning method.

But now a new psychic power had been identified in the Hoenn region. Giovanni doubted it was his creation due to how cunningly elusive it had been for almost two years. But whatever it was, it would soon be taken for his use.

" _Soon the power will be mine._ "

* * *

 **Notes from** **Chapter** **1:**

 **A very quick recap of Ash/Lorelei/Cynthia relationship at the beginning.**

 **Anyone got the reference towards the couple of Johto. They appeared in an Anime special in the Chronicles.**

 **Ash will have a wardrobe change in the next chapter. He still looks like in Johto. However, his outfit won't be the one he used in the Advanced arc.**

 **So Raichu didn't destroy the bike this time. That's cool, I guess. Ash doesn't have to pay for it, although he has enough money to buy the whole bike shop.**

 **May won't travel with Ash for long. Only until reaching her home town in the next chapter.**

 **Ash knows that May lied to him about catching the Poochyenas. But he doesn't care.**

 **Poketube/YouTube, any got that reference? Also this will work alongside Pokevision from the XYZ Anime.**

 **Giovanni appeared. But he won't last long in this story. Just wait.**

 **Also Mewtwo easter eggs for everyone who asked about what happened to Movie 1. It happened. But Ash doesn't have memories of it. And Lugia hasn't found that out because Mewtwo's psychic powers are a bit stronger and so he disguised the erased memories deep in Ash's mind. But those will get to be unleashed soon enough.**

 **Yes, Jessie, James and Meowth are out of jail. But they won't appear. Al least not yet.**

* * *

 **And so the adventure has begun in Hoenn! See you in the next chapter!**


	2. No Place Like Hoenn

**A Legend's Journey**

 **And so the second chapter has come! Thanks to all my fans, who have sent their support. But wow, you guys sent A LOT of support. Seriously, I got almost 23 reviews and more than 100 Favorites and 100 Followers just for one single episode. You people were really desperate for this sequel. Luckily for you, I am a caring author so I brought the second chapter. And with extra details as many wanted if 9,000 words are plenty to go. Maybe the next chapters will take longer because of their length but hopefully I can manage with my job.**

 **On a side note, Dragon Ball Super revealed a very good battle scene with Goku against Kefla. About damn time they did something right. Although, by the way how things have developed and the newest Vegeta 'Dark Blue', I'm again feeling disappointed.**

 **Check out my profile and my poll for Ash's starter Legendary in a brand new story of Pokemon. So far Mew is winning with Darkrai close second. So please keep the votes coming so to finally settle the deal. The poll will remain until December 5th.**

 **Oh and possible SPOILERS for the NEXT chapter: Lemon scene. But that's still not guaranteed. Let me know what you think. Maybe I won't because I already have the ladies for the harem decided.**

 **As always, leave a review, it helps a lot in motivating me. So, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: No Place Like Hoenn**

For the following day, the experienced trainer from Kanto kept his way towards Petalburg City. While there was a Gym in that particular city, Ash knew that according to the Hoenn league rules, he needed four badges before challenging the leader there. But the seasoned trainer didn't mind having to fight his way through others to reach a stronger foe. It made his future victory all that more exciting.

Spending time with the rookie trainer May Mapple wasn't a bad student if Ash had to say so. But been someone's teacher was a bit annoying. The rookie trainer had some knowledge about types and their advantages but she was no expert in the practice. She obviously went by all the information she could get from TV live performances of Leagues and Contests. This meant roughly nothing unless you knew how to make the information your own and apply it into the practice.

And so Ash found himself walking towards his destination alongside his evolved Electric starter Raichu. May slacked behind him panting a lot and sometimes bending over touching her knees. It was obvious she didn't have that much physical stamina. They had been on their way after leaving the Pokemon Centre of Oldale Town just a few hours ago in the early morning and they still had a rather long trek to reach Petalburg on foot by the following day.

"Ash, slow down a bit," The brunette lady pleaded feeling her legs sore. And not in a good way. Her companion sure knew a lot about Pokemon. After watching some of his fights in his official trainer's profile, which included a battle with HIS three Legendaries, the rookie knew that Ash was at the top of the game. But he seemed to have little patience when it came to waiting for her to catch up.

"I'm going slow. But you keep getting slower." Ash casually responded, his hands resting behind his head. It was true. Ash, even carrying his backpack with supplies for some of his Pokemon was easily two meters ahead of the new trainer. And that gap kept widening inch by inch as May grew tired.

"Hey that wasn't nice!" The brunette said pouting. Ash smiled. He loved teasing ladies so much. As long as they didn't punch him or kick him in the groin.

"I wasn't trying to be nice in the first place." The Aura trainer answered his pace still forward. As he detected May had stopped her walk thinking she could rant at him, Ash decided otherwise. May now had to jog to finally meet her travelling companion with an angry expression plastered across her face.

"You know, I had a bike." The brunette stated a bit of an edge in her tune.

"How is that my problem? The Poochyena attacked you, not me." Ash answered again, his tone way too soothed despite having an angry woman, the most dangerous being breathing down his neck. Raichu treading next to him snickered.

"You are so exasperating!" May cried out. Her nerves were sky-high while she wanted to rip her hair out.

She didn't see Ash's grin of mischief. If he had tried this teasing with Misty years ago, his answer would have been a mallet to the head. And with Lory... well, she would answer back with a very snarky remark. And then the two would make out.

However, the back of Ash's mind was more focused on other events unrelated to May or even the future Gym battles he had ahead. After leaving Oldale Town, the Aura trainer had caught wind of a robbery taking place in the nearby ruins. An Archaeologist named Alden had been forced to lead a group of red-dressed men inside the derelict place in hopes of finding an ancient Pokemon. Ash doubted that they were looking for some revived Fossil Pokemon native of Hoenn like Anorith or Cradily. Although they didn't get what they were apparently looking for, the archaeologist was ecstatic with his discovery of a shallow pack of the even older Pokemon Relicanths.

Ash sighed to his insides. Knowing his Arceus-damn fate, he was bound to not only encounter those groups but also get in the crossfire of whatever they were after. Especially if they were hunting a unique kind of Pokemon.

A sudden blue thing jumped from the bushes startling May right on the spot back-stepping in fear. Ash and Raichu merely reacted to the new comer after already knowing of its presence thanks to his Aura and accurate senses respectively.

"Hey, a Pokemon!" May scanned it with her Pokedex thrilled to the core, while Ash already knew which Pokemon was. It was an Azurill, the Water Mouse Pokemon with a long tail to hop on and a cute small mouse appearance. May had hearts for eyes as she instantly fell head over heels for the cute baby Pokemon. The brunette turned her head to look at Ash with a smug look on her face. "See what I can do, Mister Champion. Pokeball go!" She threw the engorged empty Pokeball and swallowed the Normal/Fairy Pokemon inside.

Ash tried not to burst out in laughter. This lady would have to learn the hard way how to properly catch a wild Pokemon. The capture object bursted open again and the angry Azurill kicked the red-and-white Pokeball back to its owner.

"Hey what gives?" May asked looking at her returned empty Pokeball. She was pretty sure that her aim had been spot on. That's how it usually went, didn't it?

"You know that to catch a Pokemon you have to soften it with a battle, right?" The expert trainer stated now towards his protégé already knowing the answer.

"Of course I do know that!" May responded. With an obvious sweat drop at the back of her head. The newbie grabbed her starter's Pokeball and threw it forward. The Fire starter of Hoenn, a bipedal orange-feathered chicken with a small beak bursted in white light into the arena. "Torchic, use **Ember**!" The Fire starter appeared and obeyed the command. It let loose the volley of miniature fire balls from the back of its throat.

However, Azurill seemed to have quite some experience on its own doing a rapid jump to the left easily eluding the flimsy Fire-type move. The baby Pokemon took a very deep breath, preparing an attack. May was scared while Ash paid close attention to two new Auras coming their way.

It was at that moment when two other Pokemon jumped getting next to the Dual-type Pokemon. The one on the left was slightly taller and chubbier than Azurill with stubby arms and a more white coloured plump body. It was Marill, the evolution of Azurill. On the right stood a very much taller than the previous forms with longer rabbit ears and a thinner body compared to its pre-evolution. This was Azumarill. The complete evolutionary family was deeply inhaling until letting loose a triple **Water Gun** attack.

"Torchic, look out!" The brunette screamed towards her starter warningly. Yet the confused starter had no way to follow the command. The three blasts of super-dense water were already upon its small frame. May had no illusions. If her Pokemon, one who had no real battle experience or had taken attacks before, would literally die in the spot by the thrice supper effective move.

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash's Pokeball was tossed following his unwavering command. The massive Fire/Flying Pokemon of Kanto stood in front of the also Fire starter, his massive weight making Torchic fall flat on its back. The Dragon-esque Pokemon merely stood in the path of the attack, taking the three **Water Guns** to the chest, merely drenching his cream-coloured scales. T Fully-evolved Pokemon yawned in boredom as he had a comforting shower.

The attack ended and one could see the terror brimming in the Azurill family line's eyes.

"Finish them with an **Iron Tail.** " Ash casually ordered. The dual-type Pokemon spun around at blurring high speed that befuddled its size, his glowing tail slashing left to right with great force. The three Water evolutions were hit like a ton of bricks and crashed against trees, completely knocked out.

May and Torchic had their mouth and beak respectively on the ground. Charizard had survived a triple **Water Gun** to the chest unscathed. And even knocked out three Pokemon with one attack. And it looked like Ash hadn't ordered Charizard to be full serious.

"Ash, that...you..." May stammered for a proper response. Her eyes were going back and forth from the knocked out wild Pokemon, to the badass Charizard to its badass trainer.

"You are going to stutter or catch one of the three Pokemon?" The Aura trainer commented recalling his Fire Pokemon. May shook her head throwing her empty Pokeball towards her original intent. Azurill's new ball trembled for a few dreadful seconds. Until the famous 'ding' sound happened.

"Ash, it was incredible!" The new trainer of Hoenn said completely flabbergasted clipping her newest catch to her waist. This went beyond anything she had watched on TV. "Charizard survived three Water moves without been scratched!"

"May, that's called training," Ash replied with a confident smirk folding his arms across his chest. "All of my Pokemon have trained to take moves they would normally be weak against," Ash looked at the two remaining wild Pokemon getting back up and scurrying away despite their lacerations. "Considering these three weren't very strong to start with and that Charizard used a move they were weak against then Charizard didn't need a tenth of his true strength to beat them." May ignored the fact Ash had had outright stated that his Charizard could pretty much burn a person or a Pokemon down to ashes.

"Weak against? The Azurill line is composed of Water-types. How can they be weak against a Steel-type move?" May asked scratching her head. Only to be responded with a round of laughter courtesy of Ash. And even a snigger from Raichu.

"You sure have a long way to go," The League Champion commented with mirth. Not to make it sound insulting, Ash pressed on. "First of all, Azurill is a Normal type. It gains Water type after evolving into Marill," May nodded paying close attention to every new detail. "And second, they all have the secondary Fairy type, which is weak against Steel type moves," Ash walked forward returning to their original road. He turned his head looking at the still stunned trainer, "Oh and female Azurill sometimes evolve into male Marill. Remember that when you train it."

May looked like a Magikarp out of water. Her mouth was wide in shock. Ash was right. She had a very long way to go.

* * *

For the next hours, Ash spent his time showing May the inside out of her Pokedex. How it was used to scan wild Pokemon, their habits, and how it also showed the moves and abilities for each member of her current team. And not to forget the list of moves her Pokemon could eventually learn. Of course, it didn't take into account moves that a Pokemon could learn by training with another member of the team.

And now Ash was going over the basic of training. And how it hopefully could be added to coordinating. May was writing on a notepad with her pen, trying to mostly look at Ash's face or her paper sheets. As he had let go of his blue blazer due to the warm noon Sun, the brunette could see how nicely the shirt underneath surrounded his developed body, showcasing his pecs with his rather bulky arms. And May could hazard a guess that there was a six pack he was hiding. The blush in her face seemed to be permanently itched to her cheeks as she wrote everything her teacher indicated.

Next to her, her two Pokemon, the starter Torchic and the newest Azurill played around. Ash was glad that the baby Pokemon wasn't a stubborn one like his Charmeleon had been. May was still not ready to handle that kind of Pokemon.

"Okay May, listen," The Aura trainer said towards his student completely unaware of her mental drama. Sure her aura and emotions fluttered from one to the other but Ash wasn't a mind reader. They had half a day to shape her up. And that's exactly what he was going to do to the best of his ability. A two-months crash course in less than twelve hours, no pressure there. "As far as I've gathered, the average Coordinators always starts with flashing moves. For example ordering an attack like **Magical Leaf**. However, many forget that the use of this move will leave the Pokemon confused afterwards," May nodded very much understanding already having witnessed the very elegant attack, "As such many moves that have the more chances to appeal to the people and judges are the ones that have to be used the most sparingly."

"Also, many coordinators severely lack in power," Ash's comment was met with May's look of shock. She had watched many contests and they all seemed powerful to her. Sensing her doubts, the auburn-eyed teen was hasty to calm her doubts. "I am not saying seasoned coordinators are weak. If anything, the more veteran ones can give a challenge to League winners while also looking very good in doing so," The seasoned trainer kept on with his teaching. "Remember that combining two moves in one can deal double damage on a Pokemon, which can definitely guarantee you an almost instant win," Ash smiled crossing his arms across his chest. That was something he would have to start practicing with his own team for league battles. "But sadly that requires a lot of time to practice. Luckily, if that's what you want, then you have a whole career ahead of you to create your own move variations."

"What do you think of Contests?" May asked her temporal teacher very intrigued. "Many trainers just dismiss them." Ash rubbed his chin in thought. Truth was Ash still didn't have any concrete picture of them.

"Well, as soon as I compete on my first Contest, I'll let you know," The older teenager stated with mirth at his student. His laughter, however, ended rather abruptly, a stern look viewing at May. The rookie trainer felt both scared by the hard look but also, a bit turned on. "But be warned, your Pokemon must all go through proper training sessions, not only to enhance their strong points but to strengthen their weak spots as well," His eyesight firmly lodged on her, making her to remain looking at him. "And never forget that just because a Pokemon doesn't seem to be visually appealing, its performance should be the one to do the talking," Her face displayed her sheer confusion. Ash chose his words carefully for what he was about to say. "When Torchic eventually evolves into Blaziken, will you send him home and keep going through contest with a more elegant Pokemon that you may have caught in your journey?"

"What? Never!" She had her starter in her arms hugging the life out of him making it go blue in the face by lack of oxygen. "I will never toss my Pokemon aside like if they are a broken Skitty doll!"

"That is the correct answer," Ash said with a broad smile of pride. This surprised May as she had only been honest. The seasoned trainer was quick to add "Having your Pokemon's trust is one of the first things all trainers and coordinators should strive towards, especially if you raise them from their baby stages," Ash kept on, "You must work together to reach as far as you want. One never becomes an Elite by just looking pretty and flashing some cleavage."

Her cheeks hit red again while looking down at her tight bosom, slightly jiggling with each of her silent breaths. Curse her early puberty! Why was she the one to get back pains this early in her life?

Digression over, May looked up at Ash again with a very hopeful expression.

"How far do you think I can go?" The rookie trainer/future coordinator asked doubtfully. Ash smiled. Everyone made that question at some point of their journey.

"That is something you decide," The seasoned trainer replied sagely, which surprised the brunette. "The sky is the literal limit," Ash rubbed his chin frowning for a moment. "No, that's wrong. There are no limits. You go as far as you want to go."

May was thunderstruck. Only now the fact she was a literal adult in the eyes of the world was falling down like a **Blizzard** attack. She could do anything and be whatever she wanted. A trainer, a breeder, a coordinator. Even a doctor or a fashion designer for both humans and Pokemon. She had so many possibilities ahead of her.

For the time being, however, she would focus on making her Pokemon stronger, faster and learn new moves. She would later tune down those moves to make them look very extravagant but also packing a deadly punch. Her career as a coordinator may have a starting edge, thanks to the wisdom of a seasoned teacher. A hot stud of a teacher.

"Now we need to work on your Pokemon's future resistance training schedule," Ash said now breaking May's visual buffet on him. The brunette shook her head and nodded. "Just like my Charizard and all of my Pokemon, they went through hours of taking head on moves they were weak against," The League Champion rubbed his chin in deep thought. "Your Torchic should benefit from Azurill's moves. And hopefully after it evolves and you manage to catch a Grass or Electric types, Azurill should benefit."

May wondered why she had to wait until her cute Pokemon evolved to use those particular types against her. Until she remembered that Azurill had the Normal and Fairy types. Meaning Ghost moves were completely ineffective, Fighting and Dark moves did half damage, and Dragon moves did nothing at all. And because it'd later gain Water type then Grass and Electric were going to always be a hindrance.

"Why don't some of your Pokemon help Azurill with that?" The brunette questioned her professor. To be fair, she was also very eager to see the rest of Ash's team. As he carried almost three times the average set of Pokeballs then she knew that he had very powerful members at his beck and call. Legendary Pokemon could wait. Just a baby Pokemon of his could defeat her own team of two without breaking a sweat.

"Not to insult you, May," Ash said scratching his head over his cap "But my Pokemon are literally leagues above you," He turned his head towards his starter chewing down on a bottle of ketchup. "Raichu as you see him now is one of my strongest and he didn't use ten percent to scare the Poochyenas away," May was really shocked and the tiniest bit of terrified about that no-so-little fact. "And he could be considered the second strongest Electric-type Pokemon I have."

Raichu snorted by that comment. Zapdos just wait.

May looked a bit crestfallen. She didn't want to admit it but his teacher was right. She had not even gone through a real one-on-one battle against a trainer. Merely a battle to catch a wild Pokemon. A battle she would have lost and probably would have left her Torchic near death.

The League winner, sensing May's dispirited mood decided to show her exactly what she would one day have to deal with.

"How about I show you a glimpse of how far you can reach?" Ash asked to his student gripping two of his red-and-white Pokeballs. After engorging them, Ash tossed them into the nearby clearing. "Venasaur, Heracross, I choose you!" Standing on four pillar-like legs the fully-evolved Grass/Poison starter of Kanto appeared. In front of it, a bipedal Bug-Fighting Pokemon stood showing its two-digit hands.

He then proceeded to show her a mock battle gazing at two of his powerful Pokemon. "Okay you two, I want you to show May here how you would stand against another trainer in a one-on-one battle." Of course, the two seasoned combatants knew to not overdo it. They weren't in a League or in a Gym arena, meaning the ground wasn't cushioned to avoid damage to the whole area and those nearby, be it people or Pokemon.

" _You got it._ " The two Pokemon said towards their trainer. But May only heard them cry out their names.

Despite one having advantage over the other, May was proved completely wrong about her assumption of type advantage being the be-all and end-all that settled the fate of the match. The Grass type hastily started it with a shower of **Razor Leaf**. Only for the Bug Pokemon to not only deftly counter with **Sword Dance** , as the vacuum cleared the incoming leaves away but also amplified its strength by a great margin. That combination sure could be both a help for her and a severe loss of points for her opponent in a contest.

Heracross proceeded to attack head on, spreading its brilliant wings and shooting forward with a charged up **Megahorn**. The brunette's brain was yet again left utterly fried by the fact Venasaur, a Pokemon that looked like a tank and would in turn be very cumbersome in speedy battles, had actually used two of his Vine whips to propel itself upwards into the sky, efficiently eluding the attack. And if that hadn't been enough, his falling amplified a very devastating **Double Edge** Ash had commanded. Once again, the dual Pokemon from Johto showed the natural strength of its kin, by standing his ground and letting the almost half ton of weight to plummet on top of him.

May was about to cry out to Heracross to move when Ash ordered the whole opposite. Heracross didn't need much encouragement to obey. When the impact came, the whole area trembled. The newbie trainer from Hoenn and her two Pokemon found themselves rolling backwards forced five meters away from the epicentre of the collision. Many trees had lost their branches by the nuke-like shock wave. Yet Ash and Raichu stood in their original place, unmoved. They didn't even have dust on them.

If her mind could handle even more mind blown, Heracross had not only survived the attack. In fact, he was lifting the starter from Kanto standing on a three-meter deep crater with scorched borders. After receiving the command from Ash to use his newest move **Superpower** , Heracross cried out with vigour summoning a red aura around his body, his armored arms with inhuman strength tossing the bulk of Venasaur into the forest, making it go through half a dozen of trees, all shattering down to splinters.

May fell to her knees with eyes widening almost out of her sockets. This was insane! This was the power she had to reach? Her cute Torchic and Azurill could become beasts of strength that looked alluring and yet capable of knocking all of its opponents down in one blow?

May found herself with her mouth on the floor and lower yet again. This time due to the fact Venasaur was returning to the battlefield, barely scrapped and looking more annoyed than injured.

" **Frenzy Plant!** " Ash ordered. An eerie green aura covered Venasaur's tank body. Rearing on its hinder legs, the dual-type from Kanto slammed its front pillar-like legs in the soft soil. The rumble of the earth begun anew. Massive and long lime-coloured vines coming down on the friendly opponent like the **Judgment** of Arceus. Using **Harden** , The Bug-Fighting Pokemon stood its ground, the lashing of a hundred thorny vines pushing him backwards with the strength to push cars and trucks with ease. Yet the Bug Pokemon was more than scraps of metal. His feet left trenches in its path as he went backwards grunting to not show weakness by the very painful attack.

After a few seconds of a stalemate, the offence ended, the two wrestling Pokemon now five meters away from each other. Both Venasaur and Heracross were now panting a bit. It was to be expected after the use of the strongest Grass-type move and taking it head on despite having type advantage. Ash looking at the shaking trainer native of Hoenn knew it was enough of a demonstration.

"Okay guys, that's all. As always you were great," The two Pokemon sighed and let down their guards, their trainer standing in front of them, "Venasaur, we need to keep working on your Poison-types moves. Heracross, we need to learn a Dark-type move to better compliment your Bug type moves. That way, no Psychic Pokemon will catch you off guard." The two veteran Pokemon nodded and were sucked back into their Pokeballs for a rest.

"I-I can be as strong as you?" May stammered to form sentences, her gloved hands clutching to the grassy soil. This brief show had to equal those Elite Four matches she had heard off whenever a new Champion was looking to climb up to the top. An ultimate challenge that made the earth rumble as only Legendary Pokemon that shaped the world could.

Ash's hands touched May's chin making her look into his auburn eyes.

"If you set your mind on your goal, you can actually surpass me." Ash's comment settled the deal. He could see the spark that had kindled the fire. Just like Ho-Oh had ignited his drive and Lorelei had added fuel into it.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent with the brunette making training schedules for her Pokemon, which were due to start after leaving Petalburg. May also planned on her own what other Pokemon to catch. While she would prefer a beautiful one to help in contests, the brunette acknowledged that she also had to keep a variety of types, looks aside. As she had promised, any Pokemon she were to capture would get to show its beauty in contest no matter how many people could consider them ugly. If she was only going with the average six then it was the best for her. Although she could go for Ash's path and travel with more than six Pokemon with her. That way, none of her Pokemon would be forgotten back at her home.

Besides, the brunette trainer definitely didn't want to leave any of her Pokemon with her little brother. He could be a bad influence over them. And also a pesky annoyance if her Pokemon wanted to just relax. She was pretty sure that her Torchic would learn **Flamethrower** just to shut him up.

The part May hated the most, however, was Ash training schedule…for her!

She still remembered his words after her pout of indignation following her finding out she was to start with a light jogging plus a few calisthenic exercises like squats and push ups.

"May, if you want your Pokemon to be the best, then 'you' should also strive to be the best," Ash commented handing her the written timetable. May wanted to retort but the raven-haired teenager cut her off. "Being healthy isn't a right. It's a responsibility. And going around fighting against creatures that may shoot you with fire balls or thousands of volts of electricity just because they want to or are after a quick meal, then been at your top condition is a must. Your Pokemon might not always save you and you must be ready for the best and for the worst situations." A blushing teenage girl had to nod sheepishly that her teacher was, again, right. With her Pokemon been so low in battle and experience, then a lot of things would fall back to her. Mostly, her own safety.

By nightfall, she was very thankful that Ash had lent her his sleeping bag. Due to her bike travelling, the brunette had only planned to depart her house early in the morning and return close to sundown. But those pesky Dark-type puppies had to ruin her day. Luckily her knight in shining armor had arrived. Not only was he compassionate but was also a great chef. Who could have guessed that Pokemon food could be spiced up with powdered Berries to make the Pokemon feel fuller without needing to have a full stomach? That sure could save her a lot of money.

At first the new trainer of Hoenn thought that Ash would sleep uncomfortably without his sleeping bag. That was until he dazzled her by calling out his massive Snorlax, who was already snoring. Ash, Raichu and the also-released Fire-type Typhlosion casually laid on top of the plump belly of the Normal-type, who just kept dosing off completely undisturbed. And with his Fire Pokemon from Johto lying close to him, Ash spent a warmer night than May did.

May's dreams that night were plagued with smart ass trainers proving how cool they were.

* * *

May had to admit, spending these last day with Ash had been quite refreshing from her usual routine back home. Getting to see some of her father's gym battles was always nice, even if her dad only lost two or three battles per month while barely breaking a sweat against others. Although hearing her brother rant all day and all night about the newest Pokemon fact of the day that the radio or TV showed or latest winner at some local competition was really something she could live without.

As for her own future, she already knew that she would not follow on her father's footsteps to become a trainer. Becoming a coordinator sounded far more like her style. And thanks to Ash's pointers, the brunette now knew how to make her Pokemon grow in power. Although that was going to require for her to catch a lot more Pokemon. And on her own as she knew that her travelling partner would soon leave for the next city in his journey to challenge the Gym circuit. That pessimistic thought made her mood go instant downhill.

However, she wasn't going to sulk. It was not becoming of a future Elite Coordinator to mop over a measly teenage crush she had. For now, the brunette was focusing in her Pokedex.

"So you are telling me that by winning battles, I get rich?" May asked checking her Pokedex in amazement.

"Not rich 'per say'," Ash answered rubbing his chin. He was trying to explain his companion about the way currency worked for trainers. It had taken him a regional Professor and his two Elite lovers hours of explanation of something that was rather easy to understand. "But whenever a trainer gets their license, they all start with a certain amount of money. Depending on the battle at hand, an amount of money is calculated to be subtracted from you if you lose, or added to you if you win."

"Your Pokedex is the one who makes the math," The Aura trainer kept on pointing at the regional electronic device. "If you were to beat me in a battle, you would win a small fortune. If I defeat you, however, I only win pocket change." The brunette looked quite angry by that remark. Something the League Champion noted by the swift flare of her Aura.

"It's not to insult you or your Pokemon, May," The League winner said trying to calm his temporal protégé down, "But that's how it goes. The experienced trainers aren't legally allowed to snatch all the money from new trainers. That's why this system has worked so well. And as far as I can guess, coordinator battles should work under the same rules." May scratched her head. This was going to get her a long time to get used to.

"Oh and one last piece of advice," Ash said looking around hoping no one would hear him. He drew closer to his apprentice, something she started blushing for, "Despite their looks, all nurse Joys and Officer Jennys aren't the same." He said tersely.

"Hold on!" The newbie coordinator said shaking her head. "They all look alike and even have the same voice, but they aren't the same?!" She blurted out a bit thrown for a loop by that unique piece of information. "Are they related?"

"Well, all Nurse Joys are sisters and cousins like Jennys." Ash explained still walking onward.

"What kind of family do they have?" The brunette commented to herself in a whisper. May didn't have any cousins. But even if she did, they wouldn't look like an exact replica of her.

"Trust me on this one May," Ash replied with a tired sigh and a very serious look. "Don't even bother to find out. If no one asks, then no one needs to answer the awkward question."

Ash still wondered how the hell Brock could identify each and every one of them with pin-point accuracy. Seriously, did he have the nose of a Growlithe? If Ash didn't have his Aura, he would definitely be as clueless as the next trainer.

May would have said something if the path of the Route hadn't suddenly ended. From atop of the small hill the two trainers stood on, they could see one of the many metropolises of the Hoenn region. Which coincidentally was May's hometown.

"Here we are. Petalburg City." Ash commented, looking at the city bustling with activity with a smile.

"Um yeah, you know…I have to run some errands," May said suddenly changing her mood one hundred and eighty. She looked quite nervous if the sudden sweat on her furrow brow were any indication. "So…see you later!" The newbie had already sped off to Arceus knew where before Ash could have reacted.

" _That was weird._ " Raichu stated honestly looking up at his trainer. Ash shrugged his shoulders to that. He knew that May was hiding something but it wasn't his place to investigate it. But this situation certainly looked familiar. Like that time when he had visited Cerulean City for the first time and Misty was trying to stop him from getting to the Gym and meet her sisters.

* * *

After a few minutes of sight-seeing the splendorous city and sadly not finding any Pokemart open, the sixteen-year-old trainer was standing inside the local gym, one of the eight belonging to the regional League Circuit. The one he couldn't challenge as of yet. But it didn't mean he couldn't do a reconnaissance visit just to see what duels he had ahead. Apparently the gym was attached to a house, meaning the leader lived, very literally, next door.

"Hello, anyone here?" The Aura trainer asked out loud hoping someone would hear him. There were presences inside the building so someone had to answer the teenager eventually. A few seconds later, a grumpy voice answered from behind a door.

"I'm coming, no need to be an Exploud!" A kid's voice said rather moody rubbing his sleepy eyes from behind his glasses. He was carrying a laptop in his hands. His slumberous sight widen behind his thick lenses when he recognised the tall raven-haired teenager standing a few feet in front of him with his fully-evolved Electric starter next to him. "You! It's really you!" The kid said pointing at the league champion with no kind of decorum whatsoever.

"As far as I know, yes." Ash replied with a grin. Just three weeks of being the winner of the Silver Conference and a fanboy was gushing down on him? Yes, it was Ash's definition of Tuesday. Or at least what everyday would be if more people started to identify him with such ease. Which Ash really pray upon Arceus they did not.

"No, I mean…you are him. Ash Ketchum!" The ten-year old kid said going full fanboy mode. "Winner of the Silver Conference of Johto!"

"You watched all of my battles?" The trainer from Kanto asked now.

"Watched? I loved your battles!" The obvious young fan blurted out, "Your tactic to switch Pokemon before they take a lot of damage was impeccable. And your last match against Harrison...and he thought he could have an advantage...and he ended up shooting at his own foot because he called out Articuno," The ten-year old was going at high speed making Ash a bit dizzy by so many words spammed together in less than a minute. "And then he tried to switch your Pokemon again but only got shocked by Zapdos and then burnt down by Moltres!" Ash was getting worried by the lack of breath. "But he still put quite a battle and even knocked out a legendary Pokemon!"

"Yeah, that was my final match." Ash said sheepishly rubbing his head. That was a summary of his entire Johto trek in a very fast-paced way.

"Hey, A Raichu!" Max got close to the tall Electric Pokemon looking all over him like scanning for any blemish in its fur, which unnerved the Electric Pokemon. "This must be your starter Pikachu. But it evolved thanks to a Thunder Stone," Max looked at the long rear limb. "And because of the shape of its tail, it's a male Raichu."

"You sure know a lot." The Aura trainer commented with curiosity. When he had been ten, Ash barely knew about Pokemon types. Mentioning evolving methods like trading or stones would have given him a migraine back on those days.

Max smiled quite smugly. "As soon as I turn fourteen, I'm going to become the strongest trainer of Hoenn!" The ten-year old kid said pointing at his chest with his thumb. "And one day, I'll surpass Steven and become the Champion!"

"That's quite the goal to work for," The Aura trainer commented with a broad smile of approval. This youngster sure reminded him of the old days when he witnessed front row the sheer speed of a Rapidash race. Or during the Oak's summer camp where he had found a Poliwag after it had scared his friend from Kalos Serena Yvonne. "But as long as you have a steady mind set on your goals then you will accomplish anything you want."

Before Max could say anything or pass out after being pep-talked by his idol, an older man appeared on the threshold of the doors. He had black hair and a broad complexity. He was accompanied by two ladies. One was starting on her thirties with auburn hair and blue eyes and a nice hourglass figure that made Ash think of Lorelei.

The other girl made Ash smile as she tried to hide a very obvious vermillion blush.

"Hey May," Ash casually talked to the teenage girl, whose cheeks were now iridescent red. "So this is your house?"

* * *

After a short introduction and explaining what had transpired with May's bike, the family was very grateful towards Ash for looking after May. May's father turned out to be no other than Petalburg's Gym leader Norman. The Aura trainer already knew that he specialised in Normal-types. But that also added to a certain level of uncertainty. After all, Normal-type Pokemon were considered the most varied type when it came to move pools. So Ash knew that he would have to prepare accordingly.

"Hey Ash, I know that the rules state that you must have four badges before challenging me," The Normal-type leader said towards the seasoned teenager. "But maybe I can make an exception. It's not every day I have a League winner for a competitor." Ash smiled meekly.

"Thanks Norman but I don't want any special treatment," The League winner replied surprising the whole family by his decision. "Just because I won a League doesn't put me above other trainers with or without badges."

Norman, despite his initial surprise, smiled. Not many trainers could go through what Ash did and come out so humble.

Max decided to change the topic. Hopefully, all the time he had spent talking about Treecko had made her sister choose that Pokemon.

"Hey May what Pokemon did you got from Professor Birch?" The kid with glasses asked his sister looking very excited.

"Come on out!" May tossed her starter's Pokeball, revealing the cute Fire Pokemon. Ash sensed how Max's excitement turned into puzzlement.

"A Torchic?!" He whined. "But Treecko is way better!" Apparently Torchic didn't like to be compared to other Pokemon. Max soon found himself crying out forgiveness under Torchic's **Peck** attack. The other four laughed at Max's expenses.

Ash checked out the clock on the wall in surprise. It was already five. While he wasn't in a rush to gather all of his badges, the League winner still had a schedule to keep. Not only his team had to train but so did he. As much fun as he had had with May, it was time to take things on his own.

"Apologies, but I have to cut our meeting short," Ash said standing up. "Norman, Caroline, thank you for you hospitality," The teenager made a small head bow to show his respect. Ash turned his sight towards the apparently sadden kid. "Max, keep learning. A good foundation is always a good way to start as a trainer," That seemed to instantly perk up the prepubescent kid. Meanwhile Ash's sight landed on his temporal protégé soon to be coordinator. "May, one last piece of advice," He placed his hand on her shoulder, her blush intensifying several degrees as his eyes bore on her. "When you get to the arena, focus solely on your Pokemon and your performance. When you reach the battle stage, pay attention only to your Pokemon, your strategy and how to counter your opponent. Ignore the crowd and the judges. I know it will be a bit overwhelming for your first time, but trust me, it will get easier." Ash had no doubts that May was going to triumph. Only her drive to achieve her goals would be the one that took her to the top or pushed her down the cliff.

"Tha-thank you." May responded, her cheeks again blushing up a storm. Next to her Norman and Caroline chuckled to themselves. Teenage crush.

"Um Ash," The brunette from Hoenn asked a bit hesitantly scratching her right arm with her left. "Will I get to, you know, see you again?"

Ash smiled kindly at her. He could sense her emotions shifting towards him in more ways than a teacher-student. Sadly, Ash didn't want to lead her on. Yes, she was hot for her age and definitely well-endowed. But the League Champion wasn't interested in her that way. Maybe because a few ladies already spoiled him for the older kind.

"I am going to challenge this gym after I collect four badges so I guess that's a yes," The black-haired teenager answered. His smile broadened. "And who knows, maybe we'll meet in a contest." Now May shuddered. His short-time teacher didn't have Pokemon. He had beasts. And she, a newbie trainer and coordinator would have to stand against them and challenge a far more experienced trainer even if he had previously admitted to have never set foot in a contest Stadium before.

* * *

The Mapple family accompanied their guest to the front door. The flapping of wings landed in front of the Mapple family. A black-feathered bird with white belly and red feathers across his neck seemed to be looking for something to eat. Maybe a Wurmple or a Silcoon.

"Hey it's a Taillow!" Max stated sprightly. He knew pretty much every Pokemon from his home region but meeting them was a different thing. His mother was definitely not letting go of him until he had turned fourteen and was officially emancipated as an adult.

Ash checked his Pokedex although he also knew his fair share of things about Pokemon thanks to Professor Oak and the updates in his Pokedex. Taillows were the equivalent of Pidgeys in Hoenn. Although it was said that Taillows were not so easily caught due to their far more aggressive attitude. However, this one was alone, whereas Taillows travelled in packs. The sheer number of them added to their moody attitude made them quite a nasty threat resembling of Spearrows you did not want to cross unless your Pokemon were strong enough to save your ass. There were reported cases where newbie trainer and Pokemon didn't make it through an encounter after angering a whole flock.

"It isn't yours, is it?" The Aura trainer asked Norman, who shooked his head in response. The auburn-eyed trainer smirked, twisting his cap. This would be easy picking. While Ash loved Pokemon, he wanted to see if the Pokemon he captures had the drive to want to become stronger.

"Raichu, use **Swift**!" Ash ordered his Pokemon's rather low-power move. The evolved starter shrugged his shoulders before stepping forward. With a swiping motion of his long lightning-edged tail, the fully-evolved starter unleashed the common shower of golden stars. The Taillow leader had no time to move away, taking the attack barrage head on. After the sparkles of dust settled down, Taillow was struggling to get up. The little bird was attempting use its wings to push itself up. Ash could see that it was angry. Good. It had the pride of a fighter that would make it fit in his team with no problem.

After a few seconds of futile struggle, Taillow's body dropped utterly unconscious with swirls for eyes. Ash casually tossed an empty Pokeball, swallowing the regional bird of Hoenn.

"Holy shit!" The bespectacled kid cursed out by the brief but astonishing display of power. One attack. And that was all that she wrote for the wild Taillow.

"Max, language!" Caroline reprimanded her son. Although to be fair, she herself was just as shocked. As the wife of a gym leader, she had encountered many powerful Pokemon. Some belonging to her husband and others from challenging trainers. But something in her guts told her that cute Mouse Pokemon held far more of a punch than a Gym could produce.

" _Even_ _ **Swift**_ _is strong enough to knock out a wild Pokemon,_ " Norman thought to himself quite shocked but also a bit concerned. His sight landed on Ash's back his stance firm and unwavering from his target. " _I better be ready to fight him._ " He wanted to fight Ash and see what he was truly capable off. As a gym leader considered as one of the few that could become Elite Four in the upcoming years, the Normal-type expert was not going to pull his punches once Ash were to eventually return for his badge.

Many gym leaders could dial back their true power despite the League orders specifically stating that no trainer was allowed to have his badge unless battling for it. But Norman wasn't going to. If anything, he would have to step up his game to be a proper challenge to the League winner.

"Well guys, see you later!" Ash waved goodbye the Mapple family, his newest shaking Pokeball still in his hand until the sound of a brand-new caught Pokemon resounded. The League Champion clipped his new addition while removing another one and tossing it. The fully-evolved Pidgeot appeared with a shrill cry expanding its gallant wings.

"Wow a Pidgeot!" The ten-year-old kid blurted, his eyes glossing behind his lenses by the beauty and magnificence of the fully-evolved Avian Pokemon. Maybe because it looked like none of the pictures he had seen of the species Professor Oak showed in his show. "It's massive and glows like a shiny!"

"Max, could you stop fanboying over every Pokemon?" May muttered feeling really exasperated by her sibling. Although to her insides she was gushing even more than Max did. To finally found one of Ash's most beautiful Pokemon and not be able to see it again.

May shook her head. She would see it again. Her teacher was going to make good use of that Pokemon's looks for contests. And she would have to battle it to obtain the ribbon.

"Why, so you can fanboy over Ash?" The bespectacled kid retorted.

"Shut up!" May answered back starting a sibling bickering.

Ash didn't hear any further discussion as he drifted away sitting on his Pidgeot's back.

* * *

The sixteen-year old trainer stepped into the Pokemon Centre, a few hours after his departure from the Mapple household. After a short shopping spree to collect supplies for his Pokemon and himself, and still not getting any luck with the accursed Pokenav, Ash decided to call it a day. His team was comfortably resting in their Pokeballs, Raichu still walking next to his friend and trainer.

Standing behind the reception booth was Nurse Joy, a pink-haired beautiful lady in charge of taking care of all the injured Pokemon that came through the door. Next to her, her faithful plump-looking Wigglytuff with a matching nurse hat happily smiled.

"Hello, Nurse Joy." Ash said to the nurse, offering a charming smile. While he had already booked a room in the Centre, it was better to always be on the good side of the Nurses. One wrong word and you could find yourself kicked out of the Centre by the cheerful Wigglytuff. Don't let its cute looks distract you. That Pokemon could easily turn into humans and Pokemon's worst nightmare just by removing its hat. And so would Nurse Joy.

Not many knew but all of the nurses were previously trained in battle as any gym leader was. It was a fundamental requirement before taking charge of a Pokemon Centre. How was a nurse to otherwise handle smoothly the comes and goes of dozens of trainers per day?

"Hello Ash," The beautiful Pinkette Nurse welcomed the seasoned trainer, who was staying for the night. She crouched behind the counter and placed a box in front of the League champion surprising him a bit. "This package's just arrived for you."

"For me?" The Aura trainer asked rather surprised. The parcel was a rectangular box wrapped up in brown tissue. Nothing that made it stand out. Using his Aura, Ash detected nothing organic inside. So it had to be some kind of object. If it were from his mum or Professor Oak, then they would have priorly tried to sent him a call. It didn't have any destination only Ash's name. Usually when delivering packets that didn't have an established city to be sent at, the packages were passed around from one Pokemon Centre to the other, residing for a few days while the local Nurse Joys tried to find out the receiver of the mail.

After signing for the arrival of the package and getting inside his room, the League Champion opened the wrapping to find to his shock the small note at the top. The box was addressed as coming from Kalos. Unlike other regions, Kalos was widely regarded as the fashion centre of the world. Mostly because a few years ago, a competition called Performance had been tried to put through with League's authorisation. However, due to its very flamboyant and very evident sexualization of the female gender, it got quickly putted down. But with the appearance of Contests in the region, maybe the performance could be assimilated by them and keep the very good-looking outfits.

Ash smiled. He knew of two beautiful lady trainers currently running amok over that region attempting to locate a Mythical Pokemon.

"Oh Lory, what is inside that devious mind this time?" Ash commented wanting to roll his eyes. Knowing his lover like he did, the present could be anything. He removed the top.

"Hey, new clothes!" Ash commented happily. This was what he had been looking for. Importing things from Kalos was expensive. This outfit as a whole could easily cost three to five thousand Pokedollars. Even Evolutionary Stones were cheaper in that region than clothes were.

Ash snorted. That amount of money was pocket change for his two Elite lovers. Ash picked the small note attached to the underside of the case. By the pristine handwriting, it was Lory's. Ash knew the inside out of that gorgeous woman. Even her handwriting wasn't so easily copied.

" _I thought you would want a change of looks to fit your...rebelliousness,_ " Ash snickered as he read. " _Good thing I didn't send over what Cynthia had picked for you. Let's say that if you want to dress as a Machoke for us, we still have it wrapped up for you._ " Ash laughed. It would still be a while since he could see his two girlfriends again. Although as soon as he managed to get his hands on a Pokenav Plus, he would give them a call.

The League Champion carried the box into the bathroom to get dressed.

* * *

Ash stepped into the bedroom in a new get up. He was now dressed in a dark crimson red sleeveless jacket with an also sleeveless black wife beater underneath it. He had dark blue pants with a new pair of white snickers in black laces. He had to admit, this new look did fit his more developed frame like a glove. Which by the way he now had black leather finger less ones.

"Well, it certainly isn't very common," Ash said to himself while enjoying his reflection on the mirror. He flexed his arm, the muscles bulging but the clothes not straining too much. "But I can't complain. It totally suits me." And the silk felt like a soothing sensation washing over him. Using costly materials like Galvantula' spider silk added to Mareep's wool sure paid off. No wonder the other regions felt like they had fallen short in the clothe department. This outfit would not only fit but would also be resilient to his unique training style. And maybe survive one or two Pokemon moves unscathed. The box also came with a winter coat and also a swimming trunk. Ash could guess that neither Lory or Cyn wanted him to choose clothes himself. Maybe because his fashion senses were dismal at the best.

" _Are those clothes even canon to the series?_ " The Lightning mouse asked sarcastically.

"Did you say something, buddy?" Ash asked, apparently not hearing his starter's comment.

* * *

 **Notes from Chapter 2:**

 **Ash already caught his Taillow. It shows the difference in training as it took Pikachu a long time to properly weaken it.**

 **Ash was only teasing May at the beginning. He doesn't hate her.**

 **I know the training course was really hasty. But Ash is a straight-to-the-point trainer. And May knows he is a serious knowledgeable man and his Pokemon back that up. In the Anime, Ash trained May in how to catch a Pokemon and later on forgot that he had to weaken them. That WON'T happen here. Ever.**

 **Pokemon do eat Pokemon. And humans eat some Pokemon. And some Pokemon also eat humans. You better get used to read some foods that NEVER appeared in the Anime because of censorship.**

 **Ash will obtain a Pokenav later on so he will chat with his lovers. But they won't be 'physical' again until much later. Maybe after the Hoenn League is over.**

 **If you are wondering, yes. Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny will be among Ash's lovers. And that's actually the easiest, once one Joy or Jenny fall for Ash the others will want a piece of the action as well. This will definitely be great in Unova, where the Jennys are the most stuck-up. A good old shag would definitely help the lighten up.**

 **The Gym battle against Norman will hopefully be a bit more equal as Norman has witnessed a glimpse of Ash's power. And with Max there, the gym leader will know that Ash has Pokemon to match Elites and even his own set of legendary that could take down any Pokemon.**

 **Okay Ash has a new outfit from the season that shows a non-legal League. For the fans, who don't get it yet is the Orange League's Champion Drake. I always liked his outfit and now Ash has it. Why not?**

 **A list of Ash's Pokemon will appear in the next chapter. Because Ash will capture plenty.**

 **A small fourth-wall break at the end.**

* * *

 **And so Ash is getting ready to pick up his training again. Not that he didn't while May was with him but you get my point. See you in the next chapter!**


	3. Ready for School?

**A Legend's Journey**

 **Hello, my fellow readers and writers! Your good old writer is back in the game. Now, when you receive a lot of PMs and reviews asking why I haven't updated in a while and then you check on your story, you know you did something wrong. I mean, TWO YEARS since the last update. I know I've been distracted with a lot of things (my night job for the last year been the most prominent one) so I can only offer apologizes.**

 **Here's a brief list of how my stories are doing so far:**

 **All of my DBZ stories (regular and x-overs): All of them are under hiatus until I work a way around most of the horrid mistakes I made back in the day. So that means new future story ideas in my profile are definitely not going to appear anytime soon.**

 **The Master Path: On hold until I have a clear idea of what the hell to do with it.**

 **Champions of Sinnoh: Working on a small rewrite for the first chapters while maintaining the overall arc.**

 **Gym Battles Redone: Just need to watch more of the Gym battles in the Anime while adding my own twists, no big complication there. Although adding the background of this new Ash Ketchum is quite a pain to write down.**

 **Unexpected Twist: Making small rewrites concerning certain famous Fairy Eeveelution.**

 **Also I've been keeping up with Pokemon Anime and Dragon Ball Super (at least the manga, which I enjoy much more than the Anime). But seriously, holy shit! Ash has a Legendary Steel-type Pokemon and won a League?! Is he going to wake up from the coma any moment now? It's way too good to be true. I'm not saying I don't like it (been waiting since the Indigo League) but THIS particular Ash is the one to claim victory? Out of his strongest versions in Sinnoh and Kalos and now the low quality one is the one who wins?**

 **Well, that does it for keeping you updated with the rest of the stories. Let's move on with our current story.**

 **And so we have reached the third chapter of the sequel to "Unexpected Twist". And boy, did I make it up to you? Twelve thousand words! Whenever I felt the chapter was ready more words kept coming. I'm sorry if there are some details missing but keeping track of something so long is really hard. As I have decided, I'm not writing a lemon scene here. But don't worry. Ash has plenty of ladies to bang later on. Hell, if things go smoothly, I might go into Alola and then new region of Galar if the Anime continues as such so hot women are more than guaranteed to come across Ash, movies included.**

 **Question for my fans: Do you want Ash to capture the Pokemon, that belonged to Team Rocket in canon, like Cacnea and Seviper? I don't mind as it will show Ash not capturing just willing Pokemon, who Ash befriends. After all not all of the Pokemon he meets can have heart-breaking stories like Charizard or Infernape. But what do you guys think? Let me know on the reviews and PM.**

 **Also I'm looking for a beta. If anyone's interested of course.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Ready for School?**

Walking down Route 104, Ash Ketchum followed his path towards Rustboro City through the dense Petalburg Forest. The following two weeks in the new region of Hoenn since his departure from his short-time student were spent without wasting any second at all. Despite the intermission of the two days spent with May, the teenager's Pokemon almost seemed restless to properly train at their full power once more. Ash made sure his two dozens of Pokemon kept training at every moment to become even stronger, with breaks during midday and close to sundown. None of his family members wanted to complain. In fact, most of them trained without requiring their trainer ordering them to do. Ash always smiled with pride at how far his Pokemon came to knew him just like he knew them. They were a true team. No one was going to stand in their way.

Soon the training sessions to resist type disadvantage the group had been put through Johto had returned in full, this time with a side-along sessions of type advantage. Meaning that Feraligatr, a Water type would be receiving continuous Fire moves from Charizard so to make his natural resistance to Fire even higher than possible. As a beautiful Elite trainer once told him, watch your weak spots and harden your strong ones. While it sounded unorthodox, Ash had no qualms about going for it. He would not go far into reaching his dream of becoming a true Pokemon Master if he didn't push the boundaries of what people called normal.

The Aura trainer also started showing some of his Pokemon the ins and outs of contests, despite only knowing the basics that many recorded performances showed. To his astonishment, almost everyone was more than eager to practice the new battle style, despite been flashier than thoroughly throttling like a good-old gym battle. If anything most of them practiced it because of the possibilities of creating combination moves. But Ash couldn't complain. Doing such a change of training at this point could be very rewarding in the end.

* * *

Currently, Ash found himself supervising many of his Pokemon sparring against one another attempting to learn new moves or combine them. The Aura trainer saw his brand new Taillow flying around with Noctowl and Pidgeot making sure to learn as much as he could from his more-experienced partners. Despite Taillow's quite stubborn attitude to not submit to his new trainer for the first few days, the regional bird of Hoenn had been convinced after Ash had offered him to be again free, if he could first defeat one of his Flying types. Of course, that turned out to be the worst decision ever for the bird of Hoenn. One **Wing Attack** courtesy of Pidgeot's mighty feathered limbs put Taillow down for the count and in need of a Super Potion.

After that, the Aura trainer heard no further complaints from Taillow. In fact, it was now his two other Flying Pokemon trying to keep up with the very enthusiastic Pokemon of Hoenn. In the short span of a few days, Taillow had already managed to learn and fully master **Steel Wing, Aerial Ace** and **Double Team**. Ash always made sure that his pack learnt moves to fight against their disadvantages, not only by making them take effective moves. And **Double Team** was the perfect elusive move to distract the opponent. Some of Ash's Pokemon had learnt the move. As some of his Pokemon could be cumbersome by their massive bodies and weights, having such efficient moves were the easiest ways to get the rival foolishly thinking they could take on Ash's team with a faster Pokemon and lure them into the League winner's trap.

The Aura trainer turned his head and saw Charizard backpedaling, dodging Typhlosion' relentless **Slash** attack coming one paw to the other in a blurring barrage. The Fire starter from Kanto then hastily sidestepped, sensing someone else coming from behind. As predicted, right at the same spot Charizard had been standing in, Tyranitar had come down with a **Thunder Fang** that would have really injured the Dragon-esque Pokemon's wings. In a battle, that could have been a battle turner. Yet with a fanged grin, the Fire starter's right hand shot upwardly an attack already at the ready. A green energy claw construct enshrouded by orange flames sent the poor pseudo-legendary careening up and backwards with a loud bellow of pain. This was the reason why some of Ash's Pokemon were sparring against more than one partner to work on their reflexes and reaction time to dodge. The Fire starter from Kanto was one of the few who, while not mind-blown in interest for contests, he sure was focused in combining two moves in one. By the looks of it, an emerald **Dragon Claw** coated with **Fire Punch**. Something Ash was more than happy for. Charizard was sometimes just as stubborn as him so it was better to give in a few times. Forcing his Pokemon into something they didn't want wasn't the way to go to make them stronger.

Ash kept looking around for the rest of the team. His newest Nidoqueen stood strong as Tauros charged at her with a **Horn** attack. The female Drill Pokemon stood her ground, her pillar legs barely moving back despite the insane amount of strength the Bull Pokemon had, thanks to its time stampeding all over Professor Oak's lab. The Aura user had been shocked to find out how much stronger his Normal-type Bull Pokemon had become despite only spending time running around and probably observing the other Pokemon the Professor cared off. As a Normal type, his move pool was already dangerous and could become even more so. Yet his newest addition of Nidoqueen was no slacker either. The Drill Pokemon was actually but with a heavy effort, pushing Tauros back, her hands clasping the sharp horns her thick legs caving the soil with each push. Tauros' hooves made small swathes as he was been surprisingly shoved back even if at snail's pace. Looking behind him, one would see some desperation in his effort to not be thrusted backwards. Ash' shiny Bayleef was at the waiting alongside Rhyhorn, the collar of leaves aglow by absorbing the sun rays, energy amassed at her mouth ready to unleash a **Solar Beam** on either of the two Pokemon in combat, whichever the shiny Pokemon decided to make her ill-fated victim. Her **Vine Whips** were at the ready moving around her, working on how to multitask to not let her charging blast leave her exposed in the middle of the battle. The Rock/Ground Pokemon was instead stomping his front paw, ready to let loose an instant charge the moment any of the two got close enough. As Ash found out after trading it, the dual-type Pokemon hailed from Kalos and had been used a Poke Ride for Rhyhorn races. So it definitely wasn't missing in the speed department.

The happy Feraligatr also faced off against two Pokemon, only his case took it to the very extreme of Pokemon and human sanity. He bravely and very recklessly stood against the Titans of Fire and Lightning Moltres and Zapdos. The two Avian Pokemon, who were generating their elements by the mere flap of their wings, would normally intimidate any Pokemon and trainer. But not a fellow member of the gang. The Crocodile Pokemon jumped in delight, as water spurted around his crocodilian body shooting him forward like a living torpedo. The **Aqua Jet** shot forward, with the two Titans not flinching in the slightest. They incredibly took off towards the incoming living projectile, their own bird-like bodies enshrouded in bluish flames of **Flare Blitz** that ignited the grass and orange static **Wild Charge** that made trees lose their leaves. Ash smiled as he turned his head at the time of impact comparable to a handful of **Self-Destruct** between three physical moves. It was obvious who had won that collision. He'd get the Super Potions ready.

On the shore of the flowing river Blastoise and Kingler stood proudly. The fully-evolved Turtle Pokemon let loose two powerful jets of stream from its cannons, the powerful **Hydro Pump** soaring across the river cutting the surface of the liquid in two as it reached the other side of the shore in seconds even managing to break a few trees in half. The Crab Pokemon made its larger right pincer glow in white energy, slamming it hard onto the river. The powerful wave amplified the already split surface of the river, revealing the riverbed making it look like a path had been created. This great image kept on for a few minutes until the two Pokemon ceased their offensive. Ash smiled. Both of his Water-types from Kanto were working on their stamina, throwing rapid-fire moves for as long as they could, then a quick respite and back to it. So far Blastoise had been maintaining constant water streams for half an hour before needing a short break. Practicing **Hydro Pump** was far easier and more versatile than doing the same exercise with **Hydro Cannon** , the strongest Water-type move. Although it didn't mean they wouldn't practice it at some point. After all, many Elite Four and Champions had Pokemon capable of using moves like **Hyper Beam** in quick succession without needing a turn to rest. Kingler had the work more cut out for him, as his species wasn't well known for having great resilience. But been part of Ash's team meant his trainer would help him get past that limitation one way or another.

Close by, Phanpy was with Gligar and Heracross practicing their **Hidden Power**. It was a very good way to gain a new elemental attack. And thanks to the uniqueness of the move, the two Ground types could have different kind of elements. The kind of element they possessed now would definitely change upon their evolution one day. But that was something to be worked out much later in the future.

So far the Elephant Pokemon seemed to have more success in charging the attack but instantly dissipated afterwards, leaving her a bit frustrated. The Scorpion Pokemon didn't struggle so much, amassing the move much faster than his little sister and effectively launching the barrage leaving very obvious cracks and fissures upon the large boulder they were using as test dummy. And by the looks of the orbiting salmon pink colored orbs, it was a Fighting type move. Definitely a great way to counter his super effective weakness against Ice.

Heracross, however, was instead practicing his accuracy shooting one glowing purple needle from his mouth. The needle he spat sailed with such smoothness through the air and embedded itself deep into the stone, going straight through it and following undeterred, puncturing the bark of at least three trees until its momentum ceased. Ash wanted to gawk but he kept his composure. His Bug Pokemon's newest move was known as **Fell Stinger**. While not looking very impressive at first glance, it had quite the extraordinary side effect. If Heracross were to knock out a Pokemon with this move, his physical attack would double. A great way to gain a quick power up without needing to put his dual-type Pokemon in danger by staying still and using **Sword Dance**. Although combining the two power-ups was definitely something the Aura trainer would look into it. It would be quite a great battle turner in any Gym or league battle and definitely doubly appealing for contests.

The closest group towards Ash consisted of his fully-evolved starter Raichu alongside the dual-type Haunter. Ash had been quite amazed to find out after a quick check of his Pokedex that The Gastly line could learn the three Elemental punches. And while making the Ghost Pokemon learn them hadn't been hard, after all, Ash already had seventeen of the eighteen types in his massive team; they still had to work up Haunter's physical strength. This was the reason why Raichu was practicing with him, both Pokemon from Kanto punching boulders. For the Electric starter, he didn't need to summon any of its physical moves. Years as a Pikachu milking every ounce of training to become stronger and faster had made his final evolution consequently very astonishingly powerful. Haunter, however, was a whole can of Remoraid to open. The rather prankster of a Pokemon could barely produce a few cracks in the surface despite trying to summon the move **Focus Punch** his trainer had told him to work on to take advantage of his Dual immunity to Normal and Fighting and to fight its weakness to Dark. It was common knowledge that Ghost Pokemon' supernatural ability to fade through most matter came at the expense of not been able to keep solid form to be considered great melee attackers, Legendary Pokemon been the exception to that rule. Ash could also guess that spending time with Sabrina had mostly helped the dual-type in the long range department, which according to Haunter's move pool, it did. Psychics do have mostly special moves over physical ones. So until his ethereal body could harden enough to maintain such a powerful attack, he had to keep training. Been a ghost that barely needed sustenance definitely added in keeping him going more than the other members of the team could.

Near that team, Venasaur and Sylveon were practicing how to combine two moves. They were the first ones to start the new trending when their trainer mentioned coordinating, and were obviously not going to stop until they had at least accomplished one double move each. For the fully-evolved Grass starter, he was trying to work his **Vine Whips** with the far stronger Grass-type move **Power Whip**. **Vine Whips** was a rather weak move, even if used by a very powerful Pokemon. Yet its low power was surpassed by its versatility and quickness. And combining it with such a powerful move would create a faster and devastating move with almost no chance of dodging. And by the looks of it, the fully-evolved starter seemed to be almost done, shooting three vines surrounded in purple-colored aura towards a thick tree. When the impact came, to no one's surprise the poor plant had been torn to shreds, splinters flying everywhere in a brown shower. The Aura trainer smiled. Venasaurs had the unique trait among other Grass types of developing more vine whips as they grew old. As Ash could see, his own Starter already had three. So the dual move would grow in hazardousness at the same pace Venasaur did.

Meanwhile, the Fairy Eeveelution charged up a **Moonblast** holding the glistering pink sphere in her mouth. Holding the power of magic was only the first step, however. Now Sylveon started pouring more of her Fae power into her orb, making it grow in size and radiance. Contrary to her fellow training partner, the Eeveelution was aiming for a one-shot blast capable of taking out anyone that stood in her way. Something that other Pokemon, with or without type advantage over Fairy, would HAVE to dodge, with or without orders if they appreciated their lives.

Ash now back stepped, his aura sensing the massive gathering of energy. His other near-by Pokemon followed with his idea, when Sylveon let the attack loose aiming it up into the sky. An orb of energy with a width twice that of Sylveon's body erupted like a volcano shooting up into the blue heavens with blurring speed. Even without aiming at her family, the trainer from Kanto and company fell back by the shockwave created by the blast off. The sphere of pink light reached an incredible altitude until it bursted into a colossal display of glittering shockwaves. A drizzle of sparks rained down over the training field.

The panting Fairy type yelped in happiness, jumping to the shocked Ash's arms, who stumbled back until regaining his bearings. He knew that Sylveon was determined to grow strong but to such degree? Ash was proud and bit terrified. Apparently the Fairy type was more than dangerous to just Dragons. And Dragon Masters like Lance and Clair were revered in every region for a reason.

Did that mean that his shiny Pokemon now granted Ash the title of 'Dragon Slayer'? Definitely food for thought.

"Great job, Sylveon. But remember to not over do it. **Hyper Beam** isn't a move you can do consecutively. And I can see that **Moonblast** follows the same pattern, combined or not." The Fairy-type nodded, enjoying her dad's petting until he put her down. Her Pokemon friends moved to congratulate her.

Nearby after been amazed by the Fairy type's display of power, Ash saw Lugia with Snorlax taking deep breaths of air. They held their breaths for a while until the Aura user saw flickers of fire escaping their mouths, their bodies covered in a red aura of heat. The two bulky Pokemon already knew **Flamethrower** so Ash had told them to work on the much stronger move **Overheat**. Sure it wasn't a move that could be constantly performed due to its secondary effect of lowering the Special Attack of the one using the attack. But considering how dangerous both of them were, one hit was all they would need.

One of Ash's Pokemon, however, took part in none of the two training schedules. Muk was lying under the shade of a tree, dozing off. Although Ash could sense the sadness coming from his Poison type's Aura. The teenage trainer could only wager that Muk was either homesick, definitely possible after all the time he had left his Slime Pokemon in the lab with the professor. Or the other option, and the one Ash feared, was that Muk no longer wanted to be with them. Ash was not one to hold back anyone, even if that meant letting them go. But the league champion didn't want to jump to conclusions yet. Sadly, his Poison-type wasn't very forthcoming when it came to talking, even if his trainer could now clearly understand him thanks to his inner powers. And Ash was not going to start ordering Lugia to read everyone's thoughts. That would be a breach of privacy even he didn't have the power over his crew, no matter how close he was to them.

Ash sighed. His Pokemon were working perfectly as they were so he could use the time that he didn't supervise them to practice his own powers. The league winner strode towards a nearby untouched tree, calling upon his inner power of aura. However, this time he focused it at the soles of his feet. His right foot rose horizontally coming in contact with the unyielding bark. With a sigh of brief uncertainty, as all first steps were, Ash followed through with the other foot. To no one' surprise his body managed to remain almost ninety degrees parallel to the ground. Ash sighed, his focus still applied solely to his lower members to not start any shaky motion. Arceus bless his Aura. It sure was a pain in the ass to control especially without there been a teacher about that particular field of expertise. Until Ash knew if there were more Aura users like him then self taught would have to suffice for him. But as certain Elite trainer would say, "practice makes perfect" and he wasn't one to squander such an useful mantra.

His train of thought was cut short when sudden tremor run over the soil, which stopped the whole training session of the gang. Ash's focus went out of the window as he plummeted almost a whole meter into the unforgiving soil. He landed with a thud. Ash hastily got up thanking his Aura for reacting on instincts and cushioning his falling. Otherwise that could have left a serious concussion. Many of Ash's Pokemon fell to the ground by the tremors losing their balance while others, who could fly or hover remained air-bound.

"What the hell was that?" The League Champion blurted out rubbing the back of his head aching. "Is everybody okay?" The Aura trainer asked. Although by the fact his Pokemon were already standing up barely dusted made Ash smile. Even an unintentional **Earthquake** attack hadn't injured his team at all.

* * *

After recalling most of his team with the exception of Raichu, the League winner headed towards the place from where a plume of thick smoke rose into the clear skies. As the teenager got closer, he noticed the middle-aged man standing on the edge of a crater looking down. Ash gazed into the apparent frustrated trainer of sort. With spiky green hair, the man stood a few meters at the front of a sheep. He held in his gloved hands what looked like a gun although definitely not one that would shoot conventional bullets. This made Ash growl in anger. You didn't need to be very bright to notice the very obvious Pokemon Poacher.

Poachers were usually the bunch of angry trainers, who never made the cut for the top League. In fact, Lorelei had explained to Ash that Ritchie and he (and Gary to some extent) three brand new rookies of the Kanto region, making it so far into the Indigo League on their first try was completely unheard off. She herself had only managed to claim victory in an official League during her second year as a trainer. And that was mostly after she had started her unique drilling regime she casually called training. In fact, most of the participants of the Indigo Plateau back on that day already had a year or two as trainers and Ash still got to the sixteen best over them. If only his Pidgeotto hadn't been so tired or if Charizard had heard his commands then the teenager was sure he would have reached all the way to the Semifinals at minimum.

Sadly, not everyone could be a gifted trainer, who comes every few generations. Many of the hundreds of trainers who did make it through the eight gyms eventually found themselves surpassed in the Leagues and never made it to be considered Elite-level trainers to reap the benefits years later as that actually meant putting sweat and effort into training their teams. So the drop outs turned into the illegal methods to claim easier money. Poaching was one of the many and more common ways as there was always going to be a lazy asshole sitting in a mansion thinking that their riches could buy anything they wanted, rare Pokemon included. But despite how luxurious stealing Pokemon sounded like, many poachers were very much shitty trainers. Whatever powerful Pokemon they may have captured for themselves fell woefully short to a proper trainer-Pokemon duo.

Poor ignorant fool. As soon as Officer Jennys find out about his actions, they are going to rain down on him like starving Arcanine to a baby Ponyta. And that didn't include if the Pokemon Rangers find out first.

Many feet below at the bottom of the crater a very imposing tree stood proudly. Yet one quick look at it made Ash notice how much it had decomposed, no leaves on its branches and bark peeling off like animals shedding old skin. Why was this man even bothering to attack a giant dead tree? There was almost no energy flowing within its trunk. Aside from the many presences inside it.

" _Inside?_ " Ash thought coming down on him, his gloved hands balling in tight fists. This tree, derelict as it may be, was the home to wild Pokemon. Many if his sensing skills were to be believed. And this asshole was willing to bring it down with them inside. That wouldn't stand at all!

"Cut it out!" The raven-haired Pokemon trainer yelled out, coming out in the open with a sprint, his starter sending sparks out of his electric pouches with a glare. "There are Pokemon inside this tree!"

"Why do you think I'm even here, brat?" The poacher commented with a scornful expression, his hands gripping the gun tightly. "Either they get out and I make a fortune in the market or I bury them under ten tons of rotting wood!" His right hand engorged two Pokeballs, calling out two Pokemon in front of the Aura user. Two very familiar Pokemon for Ash.

One stood on two clawed scrawny legs, an avian body resembling a vulture covered in brown feathers and long beak for mouth. The other one was a small blue-colored limbless shell Pokemon with two menacing eyes leering.

"A Fearow and a Pupitar." Ash stated, checking how the two Pokemon were obviously up to no good. But the seasoned teenager was by no means afraid. He had personal experience with the two species, having one as his family. "I'll show you some real strength. Raichu, you handle Fearow. Come out, Tyranitar!" The Armor Pokemon bursted out of his Pokeball roaring in strength. The sand storm kicked up around him and Pupitar thanks to its ability **Sand Stream**.

The poacher no longer looked so smug. This meddling fool was going to ruin everything for him. Sadly for him Rico was just a beginner in the field of poaching. He got sent here because it was supposedly an easy job. Something he appreciated. He definitely wasn't ready to go for some of the craziest jobs regarding Legendary Pokemon. But now the punk was going to cost him his initiation.

"Fearow, use **Drill Peck** and Pupitar, use **Hyper Beam**!" The poacher hastily commanded. His Fear Pokemon shot into the air onwards towards Raichu his beak making a drill motion. The middle-stage Pokemon gathered energy at its 'mouth' expelling the focused orange beam at the taller armored opponent.

"Stop Fearow with **Thunderbolt** , Tyranitar, show them a real **Hyper Beam**!" The Aura-powered teenager casually ordered ready to prove this idiot who was wrong in its ways. The fully-evolved starter unleashed the lightning while his fellow team mate gathered his own super attack inside his mouth hastily fighting back the incoming orange wave.

It was a massacre.

With a shrill of a cry Fearow landed with a hard thud smoke wafting from its scorched body. The Flying-type was lying on the soil struggling to get up after receiving more than thousand volt of electric current. Pupitar's lament of pain followed, when its attack was easily overpowered in seconds, leaving a middle-stage Pokemon unmoving inside a small crater with swirly eyes and a lot of cracks all over its blue shell.

Ash couldn't stop the grin of pride crossing his face. Despite the fact his team had just been training not but ten minutes ago, they were always at the ready for anything that came their way.

There was a sudden rustling from inside the old tree. Both Pokemon trainer and Pokemon hunter looked up into the tree cup a dozen of many Pokemon standing on the dry branches of the massively tall plant.

What surprised Ash the most were the species of the Pokemon. Half a dozen of small bipedal green-skinned lizard-esque Pokemon with rather long bulbous tails compared to their bodies were shaking in fear. These were the Grass starter of Hoenn Treecko, all of them varying from small to almost knee-high height looking fearful from the tree top obviously terrified by whatever battle was threatening their home. Meanwhile a smaller pack of three taller Groviles stood near them. The evolved form didn't have a tail and displayed two leaves on each forearm and a toothpick hanging from their snarling mouths. Ash raised an eyebrow when he saw one of the Treeckos actually not afraid but the whole opposite. It was enraged and one of the Groviles had to use both hands to keep it from jumping down into the battlefield. Ash didn't know whether it wanted to fight him or the poacher. Probably both.

But the more imposing Sceptiles, two of them far taller and bulkier than the previous forms with lengthy and bulky branch-shaped tails, yellow nubs on their backs and looking as strong as Ash's Blastoise were glaring daggers at the poacher. The final form of the Grass starter was well known as the Forest Pokemon for a reason. No one could compete one-on-one against them, let alone if they traveled in packs. Even Pokemon like Sevipers, Poison snake-like creatures with type advantage over the whole evolutionary line, knew to stay clear from a fully-grown Sceptile. Their incredible speed, dashing from tree to tree coupled with their incredible strength comparable to Fighting-type Pokemon made them dangerous to fight head on. And even in long range, their speed made that a futile point. Either you attacked fast or you were dead on the spot.

And by the looks on their glaring eyes, the Forest Pokemon were more or less ready to kill someone.

The Sceptiles opened their mouths. The yellow nubs on their backs started amassing power from the yellow star of the planet and fired a combined barrage of **Solar Beams**. Ash widened his eyes, jumping back alongside his two Pokemon before either the blast or the shockwave hit him as well. That unison attack alone could have injured any of his fully-evolved starters. This wild group was better if left unbothered.

The attack had hit the sheep and not the poacher, who managed to run a few feet before the shockwave hit him in the back like a ton of bricks. The poor idiot was still laying meters away after taking such a powerful explosion, looking very much like his knocked out Pokemon. In fact, Ash barely detected any Aura emanating from him. Alive or not, it wasn't in the trainer's mind to aid him. Only call Jenny and let her deal with this mess.

Quick movement from above told the Pokemon trainer to be wary. The apparent leader of the pack was the first who landed with a rather silent thud that betrayed his size. His fellow and the rest of the clan followed his example.

"Hey guys, are you okay?" Ash asked the Sceptile, who landed in front of him.

" _We are fine,_ " The apparent Sceptile leader said. It stood at an imposing seven feet tall, the leaves in his forearms showing there were four instead of the usual two. It proved its age as more leaves appeared as they grew old. He had multiple scars over his body to show the battles he had gone through in his long life against wild Pokemon or other trainers. " _Thanks to you and your Pokemon our clan will see a new day._ " The seasoned trainer nodded, recalling his Tyranitar back.

"But what about the tree?" The Aura user asked looking at the obvious dead plant. Not to mention the obvious burn marks and chunks of bark that the poacher had removed with his gun. Maybe he could have Bayleef or Venasaur use some of their powers to fix it.

" _There was no lasting damage,_ " The leader of the clan retorted with a smile. " _Besides, it is bound to die soon enough._ _But it will grow back in time. It has happened before._ " The seasoned trainer rose an eyebrow shrugging his shoulders in response. It wasn't his place to question how Sceptile led his family. Considering how many they were, these whole family line could pretty much walk into any area of the forest, inhabited or not and expel both humans and Pokemon if they needed.

"Okay, then. Good luck." Ash commented, turning around with his Raichu moving away towards the campsite for their stuff. Hopefully they could get some training done before the officers had the area cordoned off.

However, someone again interrupted Ash's departure. This time, a much smaller frame.

" _I want to fight you._ " The Treecko, which had attempted to fight the poacher, stated looking very cocky. Ash sweated a bit now doubting. It wasn't because he was afraid of engaging in a fight with the starter. In fact, he was pretty sure he was the luckiest trainer in the world. How many could say they have captured all three starters of each region? But there was a group of the whole evolutionary line standing behind the Treecko. And Ash was not an idiot like the poacher. He appreciated his life, thank you very much. A brief nod from the Sceptile leader put the trainer's mind at ease. It seemed that this particular starter was on its own.

"Then I won't hold back," Ash stated with a winning smile, one Pokeball engorging in his hand at the ready, "Venasaur, come out!" The fully-evolved Grass/Poison starter stood imposingly, the soil quaking a bit by its landing. Treecko smirked charging at the enemy at high speed with **Quick Attack**. This Pokemon was a real challenge for him. His bulbous tail started glowing silver.

"You start with **Iron Tail** , uh?" The League Champion muttered. For a wild Pokemon it definitely knew how to handle a weakness. "Then we stay still." Treecko performed a front flip, his tail slamming hard on top of Venasaur's head. Treecko almost lost his toothpick. His strongest move had done nothing to the fully-evolved starter from Kanto. Not a scratch or bruise appeared on its lime-shaded thick hide. This, however, didn't deter the Hoenn Pokemon. Jumping back to gain some distance and with a deep inhale, Treecko let loose a volley of yellow-colored bullet-like projectiles at blinding speed.

" **Bullet Seed** ," Ash commented to himself, gazing down at his starter who also looked up with a nod of approval. "Well he already shows me he has potential." Again not bothering to even order a command, the seasoned trainer let his fully-evolved Grass starter handle things on his own. This consisted mostly of letting the annoying attacks land on him like irritating bugs. Which they pretty much were.

The Grass starter from Hoenn felt completely out for a loop. How was one Pokemon taking his best moves without even blinking in reaction? It was infuriating! And exciting! None of his relatives ever wanted to spare, at least to the point of exhaustion like he always did. And most of the Sceptile leaders preferred to put him down in one hit than indulge him. That was his main reason for always drifting away into the forest looking for wild Pokemon or trainers to fight. He wanted to one day become the strongest Sceptile of the region and maybe more.

"You see it, Treecko?" Ash asked towards the Gecko Pokemon from Hoenn. "My Pokemon are very powerful because we train. I think that's what you want, don't you?" Ash sensed the short Pokemon's aura glowing in delight as he nodded, "Venasaur, show him your **Vine Whips**!" The three tendrils shot out from the plant of the Pokemon's back forward, making the smaller Grass type to start moving around. But for all of his dashes of speed, The Dual-type from Kanto had seen and fought faster than Treecko. Jumping up to elude it, Treecko still found his ankles wrapped by the powerful binds with the third whip tight around his neck. Suddenly, purple energy had spread over the whips, making Treecko want to get free now desperately so. Struggling did no good for the starter. He was suddenly yanked downwards, pounded hard into the soil by the most recent dual-move Venasaur had been practicing and apparently was already good to go. The starter laid completely still with swirls for eyes inside a small three-feet deep pit.

"Pokeball go!" Ash threw an empty capture ball, hitting the unconscious Pokemon converting it with red energy. The ball remained shaking for a few eerie seconds, Ash looking at the quaking Pokeball with a stoic expression that betrayed his internal doubt. No matter how many Pokemon he captured, this was always the most important moment as it symbolized the beginning of a new companionship.

The 'ping' erased the trainer's uncertainty with a sigh.

"Sorry if I was a bit harsh with him." The Aura user said in apology towards the leader of the pack clipping the newest member of his team to the belt.

" _That Treecko needs a firm hand to be properly taught._ " The Sceptile leader stated now obviously not minded. The Treecko had always being a bit rambunctious and pride-driven to prove its worth. Sometimes going out looking for battles instead of living in seclusion with the rest of the clan. And that had led to some serious dangers, especially getting in the crossfire between the eternal-battle Zangooses and Sevipers of the surrounding forest.

Ash grinned. His time in Hoenn so far held no idle hour.

* * *

The following days since the poacher incident were just as intense as always were for our favorite trainer hailing from Kanto. Getting his brand-new Treecko used to the training sessions took time but Ash still pulled it off. While the Tree Pokemon still had some attitudes of a loner, mostly when it came to eating preferring to do so sitting on tree branches, the newest starter was quickly welcomed into the family. What the trainer couldn't pull off yet, was Treecko's insistence on trying to hit on his shiny Bayleef. It seemed that the Grass starter from Hoenn had a very serious Brock-ish attitude towards Ash's shiny starter from Johto. That had sadly earnt Treecko a few **Razor Leafs** to the face, which weren't as funny as they sounded even with the gecko been of the same type.

For the time being, however, the League Champion found himself resting atop of a viewing point in Rustboro City the beautiful metropolis down below. He had arrived just a day ago so to fully prepare for his first Gym battle using the training fields close to the Pokemon Center. Ash knew that the Gym leader of the city was a Rock-type expert as such he wasn't to going to be making rookie mistakes like he had first done so long ago. The trainer almost laughed remembering his first Gym battle in Kanto against his friend Brock. Oh how very lucky Ash had been that day.

Who on his sane mind would try to overload a Pikachu with electricity to make it stronger? Or activate the Gym's sprinklers? Why did Brock even hand out the badge to him despite obviously cheating?

From his high vantage point, the Aura trainer could clearly see the Pokemart. He definitely had to go there to pick up supplies, mostly a lot of Potions and probably some Evolutionary stones. A pack of nine stones for three thousand Pokedollars may sound much but considering his new outfit had costed his girlfriend much more then he wasn't going to be complaining. It wasn't like he was going to become a pinchpenny just to save up money considering how good of an income he already had. This brought the second point of his future visit to the Mart. To finally and hopefully if Arceus deemed it so, to get the Pokenav Plus he wanted. Getting lost in Hoenn wasn't an issue for him considering how many Flying-type Pokemon Ash had to help him for those instances. But having a proper map to navigate through the regions was far more preferable than wandering off clueless. He was still working within a time frame with the League starting in a few months so he couldn't take too many side tours.

However, one of the most interesting features of the Navigator was how it could be connected to the Global Trade System, which allows trainers to place submissions of the Pokemon one had ready to be traded. Of course, the physical trade had to happen at an official building like most Pokemon Centers with the official trading machines. But putting the notification that he had a few Tauros ready to go with most of the two dozens of his Normal-type Pokemon having a standard but powerful move set of **Double Edge** , **Outrage** , **Thunderbolt** and **Stone Edge** was definitely going to get noticed in a pinch by trainers or breeders of the other regions. And that didn't include the fact half of the Bull Pokemon had the ability **Intimidate** while the other had **Anger Point**.

So far Professor Oak had already uploaded the offer under his own profile. But Ash didn't want to bother his regional expert with something he should be handling. The Professor was already a busy man so no point in burdening him with more just because Ash still had to pick up the slack. Thank goodness his Ice lover had given him that needed wake-up call.

Ash's wandering sight turned left towards a rather lavish luxurious tower. The tall building was Devon Corporation, the great company manufacturers of many gadgets all Trainers needed on their journeys, first and foremost all kinds of Pokeballs. While the future Pokemon Master knew about the different types of Pokeballs, he had to admit to have never really paid them much attention. As most of his captures with regular Poke Balls were always successful, buying different kind of capture devices would have been for nothing, irrespective if it didn't make a dent in his money reserves. Although, having some Great and Ultra Balls ready to be used would definitely be great particularly if Ash was ever to encounter more Legendary Pokemon. At least one whose capture didn't disrupt the balance of the ecosystem.

Ash's thoughts hit the backburner when he saw a small Poliwag running towards him looking quite scarred. The Pokemon hopped up and the raven-haired boy from Kanto easily caught it in his arms. The Tadpole Pokemon had a band wrapped around its tail with a weird symbol embroidered on it, so it had to belong to someone.

"Hey little fellow, are you lost?" The Kanto trainer asked the shaking Baby Pokemon. Usually Pokemon which belonged to certain institutions couldn't go far from the place. Something related to certain tracking beacons placed inside the Pokeballs or something like that. Trainers also had this feature with their own Pokeballs although to a lesser degree and linked straight to the Pokedex.

"Poliwag, there you are!" A female's gentle voice brought Ash's attention up towards the mildly jogging lady. She had brown hair tied in two ponytails with pink ribbons. She was also dressed in quite a fine-looking one-piece suit with a skirt and pink leggings. The Water-type Pokemon happily jumped away from Ash been caught by the newcomer instead. "Thank you so much for finding Poliwag." Her brown eyes scrutinized him up and down. Tall, well-built with quite a form-fitting attire and rather handsome for someone younger than her. But why did his face look so familiar? "I'm Roxanne." The brunette introduced herself.

"I actually think he found me," Ash answered grinning towards the lady. She definitely was a cute one. "Name's Ash Ketchum." He introduced himself with a bow of his head.

Her eyes widen in shock. No wonder this man looked familiar. He was the famous trainer from Kanto everyone kept talking about. The one who had somehow managed to capture the three Legendary Birds of Ice, Thunder and Fire. Roxanne had watched the Silver Conference months ago and was just as shocked as many to not only witness very powerful Pokemon like Ash's Pikachu at that time and even a few and very rare shiny Pokemon. But of course, the spotlight had been mostly taken over by the debut of the legendary trio in an official League. Those news alone broadcasted over the TV made the amount of trainers coming to her Gym almost duplicate in the last month. Obviously many wanted to emulate the most recent League winner and capture their own Legendary. And Roxanne suspected Ash was probably here to challenge her as well. Roxanne suddenly felt she was going to be very busy today. She opened her mouth but was quickly interrupted.

"Miss Roxanne!" A group of young children ran up to the lady. She apparently led a small gaggle of three boys and two girls, all of them were accompanied by Baby Pokemon going from a Pidgey, Zigzagoon and even a Magby. Ash guessed they were all nine or ten years old. Although the trainer from Kanto took notice of one youngster looked very jumpy by his close proximity to the Pokemon.

"This was Kenny's fault! He ruined our class trip!" One sandy haired boy yelled out angrily. He was the one who apparently had the Magby. The shy boy physically recoiled by the verbal lashing.

"Don't blame him. You know he can't touch Pokemon!" A young girl said now obviously protecting her fellow student.

The brunette teacher sighed. Knowing her students as she did, this could get messy. Looking at Ash and his Raichu, however, an idea popped in her mind. She might be abusing of a good man's nature but her role as a teacher for future trainers had always been just as important as her role as starting the gym circuit in her home region.

"Okay everyone, that's enough," Her tone calm but serious put all the students' attention on her, "We have a live conference coming so I want you to be at your best behavior and learn as much as you can." With the students escorted back into their class by a man with a moustache, the Gym Leader turned towards her future challenger.

"Ash, I hope you don't mind but could you give me a hand?" The brunette gym Leader asked with a small pleading tone towards the trainer from Kanto, "You see, I'm a teacher here and the children would really benefit if they can see as many Pokemon as they can. Coming from a League Champion as yourself it will definitely give them a more lasting impression."

"Sure, why not?" Ash replied with a shrug.

Ash was glad this school was nothing like that Poketech academia in Kanto. That thought made him snort in anger. Bunch of assholes the students turned out to be. Pampered rich boys, who thought money could buy them a way into the League and just because they read a few books they were already equal to a trainer who had earnt eight gym badges. Real life was going to be the biggest bitch slap to all of them. If so little was requiered to graduate then Ash was sure he could march into the main hall, show any of his Pokemon and be appointed as Principal, no Legendary Pokemon needed.

* * *

After making a small tour with Roxanne across many classrooms, going from a medical class with Pokemon Doctor assisted by Nurse Joy all the way to Contest and Battle classes, Roxanne led her guest from another region into a classroom. At first glance it looked like a conference room with quite a large plasma screen on the chalkboard. A very familiar wrinkled face was diligently talking to the group of students Ash had met at the viewing port.

"Hey Professor!" The League Champion said hello to his regional science man.

"Ash my boy," Professor greeted one of his greatest trainers from Kanto turning his sight towards him. "It seems you got there faster than I thought." Ash smiled a bit sheepishly. Back in Johto, he would have already flown into Rustboro with one of his Flying Pokemon and get the badge as fast as he could. But looking back on it, the seasoned trainer realized how much he may have missed from the sister region of Kanto. Both regions, after all, were separated only by Mount Silver making them the only two regions which shared a national border. Although considering he had still managed to come face to face with Suicune and Entei then he was really not going to look at the gifted Rapidash in the mouth.

"By the way, I already had two of your Tauros traded." Ash gave a nod in gratitude. Now that sounded like something he needed to later focus on. Trading Pokemon was a whole new basket of relationship to start on. After all, he had to earn the respect of a Pokemon, which may have received prior battle prowess from a trainer with whom they had a very close bond or the Pokemon in question had experienced unfavorable human encounters. Both options didn't look favorable. However, his success with his brand-new Nidoqueen was more than a good incentive for the League winner. Even if it took him months to properly show he was more than a proper trainer then he would do it.

"Thanks, professor. I will call you from the Pokemon Center so you can send them over," The teenager thanked. "But after my gym battle."

"Oh so Roxanne hasn't accepted yet?" Samuel asked now surprising the teenage trainer. He turned his eyes one hundred and eighty, looking at Roxanne, who was attempting to not grin too much in amusement.

"Professor, you know this guy?" One of the students asked rising up from the seat.

"Why of course, I do," The seasoned expert answered cheerily. "I gave Ash his starter Pikachu."

"And from that little rascal came this even bigger rascal." Ash stated lazily pointing with his thumb at the Raichu standing next to his right leg. The big orange mouse looked up at his trainer with a not-amused face.

" _Not funny._ " Raichu said deadpanned.

"Hey, if you are so experienced then what are the best attacks against Flying types?" The boy called Kenny or so Ash remembered asked rather smugly. The teenager raised an eyebrow. Was this kid seriously trying to bully him into submission? He wasn't Jimmy from Poketech, who could be put on a treadmill and forced to run.

"Electric, Ice and Rock type attacks," The seasoned trainer answered indifferently, "Of course that doesn't include moves and abilities that turn Normal-type moves into other types." The sandy-haired prepubescent growled after the correct answer. He didn't know half of that!

"Oh if you are so smart why don't we battle?" Kenny stood up now voicing his idea very cockily. This earnt a lot of eyerolls from his fellow classmates.

"Why would I battle you?" The Aura trainer asked arms folded across his chest uninterested, "First, you don't have the age to become a trainer and second, you don't have a Pokemon of your belonging."

"Besides, I don't think a young fellow like you is still ready to handle a League Champion like Ash." Professor Oak chimed in from behind the screen looking quite amused by the display.

"League Champion?!" The crowd of children asked in shock, the high tone making Raichu recoil his sensitive ears.

"I won the Silver Conference in Johto just a few months ago." The black-haired teenager casually commented. The aura trainer saw the kid, who had challenged him suddenly becoming a fan of him. The kid called Kenny wisely knew when to pick a fight.

"Wow, you must be really strong!" The little girl Anita said now enthusiastically, "Can you show us some of your Pokemon?" The League Champion turned his head slightly towards certain brunette teacher. Looking back at him was Roxanne smiling.

"I'll show you a few of them," Ash reassured smiling. His right took a group of six Poke Balls, "Okay guys come out!" Ash sent out some the smaller members of his team like Treecko, Taillow, Phanpy, Gligar, Haunter and Sylveon. Bringing up fully-grown starters or Snorlax was definitely not good for a closed space. And Ash definitely didn't need to start scaring children with Tyranitar or his three Elemental Titans. And Lugia would definitely punch a hole in the ceiling and traumatize the shit out of anyone, who was on the upper floor.

" _I heard that._ " The Legendary Psychic type chimed in from his Pokeball. Ash sometimes really cursed his mind link.

Taillow and Phanpy enjoyed the attention they were given while Treecko was rather annoyed by the mob of young people enclosing him. He preferred to keep his personal space for himself thank you very much. Gligar and Gengar were the whole opposite playing with the children and pulling funny faces. Although Ash was really hoping his Ghost type didn't pull any bombs out of his throat. Harmless or not, bombing children was definitely going to get the worst kind of attention down on him.

Also a lot of the students remained aside from Sylveon obviously fearful of the Pokemon they had never met or read about. Ash's gaze landed on the shy kid Tommy, who apparently couldn't get close to Pokemon. He stood far away from the crowd looking very dejected. Gazing down at his Fairy-type Ash pointed his head towards the youngster, earning a nod from her. The two headed towards Tommy.

"Hey don't worry," Ash assured the shy kid, who looked ready to bolt out of the classroom by the sudden closeness with a Pokemon. His aura emanated not fear but apprehension. The fact it was a Pokemon the little boy didn't know turned up that factor to the second power. The League winner kneeled in front of the timid boy smiling reassuringly. "She is really harmless. But if you mess with her then you better run. Not even a Salamance can save you." Tommy doubted Ash' statement but looking at the rare Pokemon, with a calming aura around its feline-like body and those glowing blue eyes put the boy at somewhat ease. The fact Ash, a powerful trainer was there also helped him calm a little bit in case something bad happened. His right hand edged forward slowly. Yet the moment Tommy's hand touched the soft fur, he found nothing had happened. In fact, Sylveon's ribbon feelers wrapped coyly around his hands, making the boy laugh by the ticklish sensation.

The classmates were obviously quite shocked to see the mousey boy so openly affectionate towards such an enigma of a Pokemon. And this obviously caught everyone's interest right away.

"What Pokemon is this?" Kenny asked rubbing the soft fur of the Pixie Pokemon. Despite not liking Tommy much, just to spend time with so many Pokemon he wouldn't say anything.

"She is Sylveon and is one of the eight evolutions of Eevee," Ash explained sagely towards the gathered group of students. He knew Roxanne and professor Oak were witnessing everything and probably chuckling to themselves looking at a battle-harden trainer as someone' teacher. Ash wanted to snort. They just hadn't met May yet. "And she is a Fairy type too."

"But I thought Eevee only had seven evolutions." Anita asked obviously very interested.

"Sylveon can only be found in the Kalos region, for Eevee to evolve into one it must first know a Fairy-type move and must train while holding a Fairy Gem," The raven-haired trainer explained still remembering when his regional professor had told him how much he had spent to get the unique object shipped from Kalos. And boy did that Gem cost a pretty penny! Ten thousand Pokedollars wasn't something to scoff at. It was almost the average wining for just one regular two-on-two battle. Ash had obviously refunded his Professor after he found out. But the man of science was far more interested in finally meeting a Sylveon rather than the Gem. To him the price of knowledge outweighed any amount of currency. "And if you think she's cool then you obviously don't know my little girl is also a shiny Pokemon." That made all the students start talking to each other, sharing ideas about the newer possibilities of more undiscovered Pokemon.

This brought a melancolic smile out of Ash. He remembered how a Rapidash race in Pallet Town back when he had been five years old had sparked his fascination, which had eventually pushed him as far he was now. And certain beautiful girlfriend of him was keeping it alive.

* * *

With the group of kids distracted while Roxanne overlooked them trying to answer as many questions as she could, Ash decided to ask his regional Professor something that had been bugging him for a while.

"Professor, did you ever notice something… 'off' with Muk while he stayed at the lab?" The League Champion asked his regional professor. After a quick explanation of his Poison-type's rather dreary attitude and lack of drive for training, Oak pondered on it for a few seconds until his eyes widen in shock and bursted in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Ash asked eyebrow raised. His comment brought the attention of the students.

"Oh young man, Muk is obviously lovesick." Samuel commented, earning a shocked expression from his young trainer.

"Love sick? Did Muk get a mate while I was gone?" Ash questioned. It would definitely explain why such a murky attitude and the lack of spirit when it came to exercising.

"You see, for a few weeks my colleague in Alola Professor Kukui transferred a few of his regional Pokemon who are variants of those from Kanto. I guess your Muk started bonding with one Muk while I wasn't looking," Samuel chuckled, his hands typing on the keyboard behind the screen. "Here, let me show you." The Pokedex entry of a Pokemon appeared on the full screen displayed for everyone to see. It looked like Grimer and Muk but instead of pure purple slime, the new ones looked rainbow-style goo with crystal shards randomly blotching around their bodies.

"So Alola has version of other Pokemon with different types?" The League Champion asked quite surprised. That opened a whole lot of new possibilities to get brand-new Pokemon. Hell if Sylveon was already a rare Pokemon, then try to imagine discovering a different Eevee aside from the regular Normal-type. And who knows, maybe that Eevee could evolve into the other ten Eevelutions that no one has yet ever witnessed.

"Not only that. Both regions of Alola and Galar have Pokemon, which deviant from their regional forms," The professor kept on his lecture even if it hadn't been included in his schedule. But knowledge was not something the old man liked to hoard. "It's my theory, and quite a hard one to prove, that these regions variants are actually the original Pokemon and our region of Kanto is the one who has 'Kanto versions' of the Pokemon. Alola and Galar are located roughly at the center of the other eight regions. So it easily explains why they have such a variety of multi-regional Pokemon whereas other regions don't."

Ash looked deep in thought. That would also explain why Unova, the farthest region of the bunch had such a large regional Pokedex with many of its Pokemon not found in other regions. Of course, this didn't include introducing new species thanks to breeding ranches and then let them loose in the wilderness to start spreading the kind. That brought a lot of complications especially with the native species getting into fights for territory or preys. But that was for the Pokemon Ranger's problem to handle.

However, the trainer's main focus still lingered with his Poison-type Pokemon. If Muk had wanted to finally settle with a mate then Ash wouldn't be the one to put a stop to it. The Aura user considered all of his Pokemon a true family, and was more than willing to jump into the frontline and take a blast for them just like he knew they would as well. But just like with his former Butterfree, sometimes the call of nature was far more important for Ash to simply force his friends to continue fighting for his dream when they themselves had their own to fulfill.

The League champion cut his rumination short when a beautiful brunette tapped his left shoulder.

"Ash, I can't thank you enough for doing this," The Gym leader said towards the Kanto trainer with a smile Ash sensed was honest. "You just made the day for these children." It was quite interesting how one lucky encounter with certain trainer had brought the whole class together, former dissonances gone by the wind.

"Well how about you make my day and accept my challenge?" Ash asked now.

* * *

After a few more minutes of enjoying Ash's Pokemon, the seasoned trainer and Gym leader decided to finally move their battle into a proper battlefield inside the Gym located next to the school. All of Roxanne' students were in the stances looking quite giddy in anticipation.

"I hope you don't mind Ash, but I film my gym battles so my students can watch them at a later time." The Rock-type expert commented, her head slightly jerking to her left showing her challenger someone with camera equipment.

"Not at all, especially if it helps future trainers." Ash responded with a smile. As far as Ash knew, the only battles that would appear in his trainer's profile were League battles and if he ever continued on, his match against Elite Four and Champion. Besides after two Leagues, fighting in front of any camera crew was almost second nature to him.

" **This is an official two-on-two Gym battle between Rustboro City Gym Leader Roxanne and the challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute his Pokemon at any moment. Now send out your first Pokemon!** " The referee said.

"Go Geodude!" Roxanne sent out her first Pokemon. The Magnitude Pokemon was one rock leg-less body with two arms and a mean look and leering towards the challenger.

"I choose you, Kingler!" The challenger called out his first Pokemon. The fully-evolved Crab Pokemon stood at the ready, his massive right pincer put on display for a more menacing look.

" **Geodude vs Kingler, begin!** " The referee said flags already raised.

"Type advantage, no surprise there." Roxanne stated looking quite smug. Many came with the idea that type advantage like Grass, Water, Ground or even Fighting was going to work against her. Especially rookies, something which she didn't expect from someone who had quite a lenghty profile like Ash.

"Use **Rock Throw**!" Roxanne started the battle. The rotund Pokemon yanked a slob of rock from the battlefield, throwing it with incredible speed towards its target.

" _Just like against Brock all those years ago,_ " Ash said to himself. But he wasn't the same upstart as he once was, "Stop it with **Crabhammer**!" Ash fought back. The Crab Pokemon's white glowing pincer slammed hard on the incoming rock, turning it into nothing but a floating cloud of dust.

"Use **Roll Out**!" Through the mist of stone came the rolling form of the dual-type Pokemon tucked on itself.

" **Vice Grip**!" Ash commanded. Kingler's large pincer opened wide horizontally easily intercepting the incoming Pokemon. The Crab Pokemon was barely pushed back by the momentum.

" _Not very wise,_ " The lady thought with a grin this match already half way done, "Use **Thunder Wave!** " Uncurling itself, Geodude's body bursted in yellow voltaic, quickly spreading all over Kingler, making the Water Pokemon groan out in discomfort. Ash was really surprised. His first gym battle of Hoenn and he was already on the receiving end of quite an ingenious tactic of inducing paralysis to lower the opponent' velocity. However, useful as it may have been against others, against him and his team was not the wisest. Not all of Ash's Pokemon relied on speed to be dangerous.

Kingler glared at the dual-type Pokemon, his claw never diminishing on the amount of pressure it applied. This shocked both Gym leader and Pokemon alike, who weren't expecting a Water-type Pokemon to merely ignore a direct Electric move.

"Now Roxanne, let me show you why Kingler was my trump card in the Indigo Plateau," He smirked looking at his Water-type. Kingler nodded at his trainer despite the lightning current already inside his hard shell body. "Use **Hyper Beam** and send Geodude straight up!" Before Roxanne could say anything, the inside of Kingler's holding appendage started gleaming in orange. Far too fast for the Leader to respond, the devastating attack went off literally point blank. Geodude resembled a rocket and lifted off reaching the ceiling in a few seconds, slamming hard into the metal beams above. The Magnitude Pokemon couldn't even start groaning in pain before something called gravity immediately took over and sent the dual-type plummeting down. With a great thud and quakes spreading over the arena, the rotund Pokemon laid completely still, the front part of his body looking like burnt charcoal and with swirls for eyes.

" **Geodude is unable to battle. Kingler wins. Gym leader, send out your last Pokemon!** " The referee said. From the sidelines many of the students were quite flabbergasted. They had witnessed many of Roxanne's gym battles but never one that looked already one-sided and without needing the challenger to use moves with type advantage.

The Gym leader couldn't believe it. She had a strategy to make Ash drop his guard and then to severely paralyze his Pokemon. But it seemed she hadn't reacted fast enough. After all, how many Water-type Pokemon can take an electric attack head on and still manage to physically hold on to its enemy?

Roxanne shook her head. This wasn't time for her to learn. It was time to fight!

"Go Nosepass!" Her second Pokemon was revealed to everyone. It was a statuesque rather cumbersome-looking Pokemon with a body made entirely out of blue stone. The most noticeable attribute, however, was its rather pointy red-colored nose also made out of rock.

Ash smiled. He had trained his less agile Pokemon in a way to fit them better. Kingler was one example. But he doubted Roxanne had trained her Pokemon like he did, obviously preferring to counter when the challenger made a mistake.

"Great job buddy, your training has really paid off in spades," The Aura trainer said recalling his Water Pokemon. Not because he doubted him. When it came to speed, his Water Pokemon was a no go. And paralyzed, it made him a literal sitting Farfetch. More than a good match up for a lumbersome Pokemon like Nosepass if it came to just standing still. But right now, he needed someone a little bit faster and wanted to also test out one of his newest team members. "Now Nidoqueen, I choose you!" The female Drill Pokemon roared with strength, undeterred by the presence of her unimpressive enemy.

" **Nosepass vs Nidoqueen, begin!** " The referee said.

" **Rock Blast!** " Roxanne commanded. Her Pokemon's large nose started glowing, sending a barrage of simmering blasts forward. Ash waited, his female Pokemon not looking worried at all. Despite not having been a part of Ash's team for long, the Drill Pokemon had come to appreciate her new trainer's attitude and knew how much experience he had in battles. Trusting him was the best course to take.

" **Rock Tomb** around you!" Ash countered. With a stomp to the ground, rocks bursted around Nidoqueen, creating a make-shift pyramid construct. The incoming attacks removed a few chunks of the self-made defence but Nidoqueen still remained behind a large slab of rock protected. Ash smirked enjoying the shocked expression he got out of the Leader and her students. "Now use **Earth Power**!" A roar of power came from underneath the rock construct, flashes of orange energy visible through the cracks. The female Drill Pokemon punched the rocky terrain once more, quakes washing over it. One glowing fissure started heading towards Nosepass. Sadly for the Gym Leader her Nosepass wasn't exactly one of the speedy Pokemon. The incoming crack reached the Compass Pokemon, making him cry out in pain by the effective damage done to it. If that wasn't enough, Nosepass' body started glowing with a green aura.

Ash smirked. It seemed **Earth Power** had lowered his opponent's special defence.

"Oh no you won't!" Roxanne said now very determined. Most of her Pokemon's Electric moves were useless considering her opponent's dual type of Ground and Poison. She knew from the get go that Ash wasn't going to be an easy win but she wouldn't be herself an equal easy win for him. "Use **Flash Cannon**!" Placing both of its lumbering arms forward, Nosepass hastily created a glowing orb of lustrous chrome of potent power. The beam of silvery sheen was expelled forward soon after flying off in a perfect linear path towards the rocky construct. The Steel-type move erased obliterated the make-shift defense and hit Nidoqueen in the snout, making her recoil in pain. The Drill Pokemon glared murderously towards her target, ignoring her purple-looking throbbing bruises. If anyone didn't know any better, people could say that Nidoqueen had the ability **Intimidate.**

"Well Roxanne, you shouldn't have done that," Ash commented with mirth. While he had wanted to let his new Pokemon fight a bit longer to get more experience, it was pointless considering how Nosepass was already on quaking feet despite only taking one attack. Either the Pokemon didn't receive proper training or his own Pokemon was too powerful. Considering how well nourished Nosepass looked, Ash had to go for the latter. "Use **Focus Blast**!" Cupping the hands and raising them, the Drill Pokemon created a cyan-colored swirling orb of energy. With incredible speed, Nidoqueen tossed it forward and onward sailing across the battlefield faster than a speeding bullet. Neither Gym leader nor Pokemon had the time to react and defend accordingly, the incoming projectile landing like a ton of bricks straight on Nosepass' bulky nose, leaving it completely charred. And thanks to the previous downgrade of stat, the Fighting-type move did a lot of extra damage. With a groan of pain, the Compass Pokemon toppled backwards completely motionless and with swirls for eyes.

Ash resisted the urge of yelling timber.

" **Nosepass is unable to battle. Nidoqueen wins. The winner is Ash Ketchum**!" The referee said. The whole gym remained silent for a few seconds until the group of students started cheering. Despite their teacher losing the challenge, they had still managed to learn quite a lot in just one day. The whole classroom couldn't wait to start their own journey as Trainers.

Roxanne sighed in acceptance recalling her defeated Pokemon. Most of the strategies she had worked out for battles revolved around using Electric-type moves. She never expected someone to actually fight her with such a variety of Pokemon or to have her moves resisted by such a wide margin. No wonder this young man already looked like a Champion in the making.

"Here you have Ash, the Stone Badge." Roxanne extended her hand forward showing her challenger her cobalt-colored insignia. The seasoned trainer grinned in delight placing his badge in the adequate slot inside the badge case. One down, seven to go.

After saying his goodbye to a certain brunette of a teacher and her students, Ash headed out with great haste. He was already heading back to the Pokemon Center to see what new Pokemon he'd just got traded.

* * *

 **Notes from Chapter 3:**

 **And Treecko is here. And already has a Bayleef to flirt with.**

 **Yes, more Pokemon for Ash. But you will see them on the next chapter. I think this one has gone long enough.**

 **I changed the way Eevee evolves into Sylveon. I will be rewriting that part in "Unexpected Twist" too. Now Eevee must know a Fairy-type move and level up while holding a Fairy Gem. I know that the Gems apparently don't appear in games but were still introduced in Gen VI so I found some use for them.**

 **For those wondering, I am not a very big fan of Ash's Muk. So in a few chapters he will be traded off for a new Pokemon. Would you guys prefer a regular Pokemon from another region or an Alolan/Galar version of a Pokemon Ash already knows? You can include OC ideas for Alolan/Galar forms (OC abilities included) if you have them. At least until I get a list from the newest Pokemon in Sword and Shield.**

* * *

 **So Ash has done a great community service plus obtained his first Gym badge. Do you know what awaits him? You will find out in the next chapter!**


End file.
